2008: Motion Graphics Reel

2008 Reel: Motion Graphics from ben russell on Vimeo.
As 2008 draws to a conclusion, I put together a demo reel of the best couple seconds of a lot of projects i've done over the past few months. It's pretty amazing where I was a year ago, compared to now.

EDIT: On the last few days of the year I took suggestions to change the intro part to my reel. Same piece, new beginning+music.

The Tree Of Life

Tree Of Life from ben russell on Vimeo.
This piece is along a thread of interest that began sometime in my undergraduate years and has carried through. I always knew I wanted to make some work that involved some of the metaphysical/spiritual aspects of religion, but with all the material it's hard to focus on one aspect. I did this piece, at this moment because I kind of wanted to get it off my chest in order to move forward and do some different things, but for now this will be what I'll submit as my final version for my motion graphics class.

1999-2008: Reel, 2 Minutes

It's crazy, editing down pieces of longer works, then patching them all together. This version is about half the size of the one I originally posted here last week, and in truth it feels better, but still kind of dated. A lot of things I incorporated in this piece were done a long time ago, but aspects of which I still like. I think a better reel will be compiled after I get some of the things I've done at Hasbro on there, as well as projects I'm working on now.

Til then, here's a highlighted demo reel of what I've done over the last 9 years in motion graphics....

it's a new day

Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night kinda hungry, and I also couldn't stop thinking about how I didn't like the demo/reel I came up with and posted here the day before. So I'm back to square one with it- cutting it down, and playing with different ways of presenting it all in a context that makes it come across the most appropriate way. Maybe I need to amass a little more recent material to put into it, also combining some pieces I've done at Hasbro. We'll see. So I deleted the video from the last post. In return, here is a little thing I made before I went to lunch today- about 7 seconds long, so it goes by quick, and the quality/colors on the web don't do the piece justice- it's very pretty to look at. When asked by co-workers: "weird- what are you going to do with that?" I told them I'd put it in the background of a dvd menu. "Oh! That's cool then...."

Quiet Nights

The quality of this online is low unfortunately. This project was for a titling assignment in my motion graphics class.

My mom thinks this video is 'romantic', but maybe that's from the donald byrd song playing in the background.

For my next project, I'm working with ideas about myths- either illustrating one, or some type of narrative similar to myths. I found a craft book at borders for cheap, so i'm scanning those in and re-painting them. Then I'll lay them out in 3D and take it from there. We'll see how it turns out. I'm learning that good assets from the beginning really make a project that much better when it gets completed, and trying to backtrack later to clean them up isn't as successful- plus its a waste of time already spent.

And that's all I got.

visual (nouns)

this was a class assignment i recently completed, minus the audio, which i will do at some point.
+more motion graphics to come...

"your mind may be somewhere else, but you are definitely here"

new things

new things are everywhere!

Chicago - 2004

My last semester in Chicago had me in a class that empathized composition in shooting video and film. The class was divided into teams to shoot, then edit together short pieces of life in the city of Chicago. It was taught by Daniel Eisenberg, and we had a very nice german artist assisting/visiting the class during the semester. I don't recall his name, or even the exact name of the class. I do, however, recall the concentration the class had on the physical art of shooting well, and waiting for action to happen within the frame. It was something I felt that I already knew going into the class, but then realized I didn't appreciate how to do it well, and striving to do it better has left a lasting impression on me.

This video was my own contribution to our groups footage. A few shots I believe made it into our final effort, but I truly can't recall. I had lost this tape since it's inception, and re-finding it recently has been a lot of fun to edit into something short.

The only audio is what was native to the shots occurring at the moment. Nothing ground breaking I suppose- just a time capsule of a city right before I moved away from it. So I guess it's here as a piece of personal documentation. So be it.

Smacktastic Loungin'

I Feel a Song in My Heart - Bob James ft Patti Austen

King of Sorrow - Sade (Cottonbelly Mix)

High on Nothing - Unsung Heroes ft Karime Kendra

Passin' Me By - The Pharcyde (Fly As Pie Mix)

Passin' Me By (Instrumental) - The Pharcyde

People Like Me - Joyo Velarde

A Little Soul - Pete Rock

Montara - Bobby Hutcherson (Madlib Mix)

Online - Gnarls Barkley

Would You Believe In Me? - Jon Lucien

Right On For The Darkness - Curtis Mayfield

Peg - Steely Dan

Dazz - Brick

The Ghetto - Donny Hathaway

For The Love Of You - The Isley Brothers

All Night Long - Common ft. Erykah Badu

The Love Song - Bush Babees ft. Mos Def

Smacktastic Loungin'

Winter 2006 - 2007: Zero Gravity Terrain Park's First Year

To someone living and riding out in Big Sky, Montana during the 2006 -2007 season, the anticipation of the new Moonlight Basin terrain park, designed by Chris Mountjoy, seemed almost palpable. The summer before it's opening was filled with rumors about what designs Chris was planning and working with, (a missile!?!?) and to most it felt like a day of reckoning for riders looking for a change of flavor from what Big Sky had offered in the years past. From the parks inception Chris faced an uphill battle between weather, naysayers, and grooming issues. Constantly aware of what he wanted his park to be like, I had never seen him more focused on a vision being achieved to their satisfaction, and frankly it was inspiring to hear him talk about it, and then to watch it all unfold. This video footage was given to me last winter, and only recently have I logged/edited it into something. To me, this footage, and any from that year in the park, serve as a cue point- not necessarily in the history of the resort, but for the actual riders out there every day. The excitement generated from that whole year on a park level was something really special to have been a part of, from taking runs through the different shapes and locations it took, to being a participant in the first rail jam/competition. Above is a photo from that day actually- everyone lined up, waiting to drop in. I would say that 90% of us up there all knew each other, and all were happy to be there at that moment. From past pow days, to jib runs at big sky, G rides, to shack parties, and now at a new terrain park- that was ours, brought to us by Chris Mountjoy...oh, and Moonlight Basin....lol

Moonlight Basin, 2006-2007.

EDIT: for the past few days i've been trying to upload the full-size, high-quality version to be viewed, but to no such luck. So, here is the mp4 compressed, tiny-sized version, with pixels and everything...if anyone want to use this for similiar ends and put music to it i'm happy to link up a file-sharing copy.

Playing the Harp In Tunisia

Playing the Harp in Tunisia

The Superman Intro

It's A Love Thing- Pete Rock & CL Smooth

I Wanna Do It Good To Ya- Barry White

Love Junkie (Dilla Remix)- Dj Cam

Inside You- Eddie Henderson

People Make the World Go Round- The Stylistics

You Got What I Need- Freddie Scott

Keep Me Hangin On A String (Juggle) - Little Brother

Word...Life- O.C.

Fancy Clown- Madvillan

Evening News- Cee lo Green

Y (Be Like That) Dilla Remix- The Pharcyde

The Sweetest Taboo- Sade

Fly Like An Eagle- Steve Miller Band

Listen in a separate window, or download at the zshare link! This is an older mix from a few years ago, but it's pretty good, with only a few mess-ups....enjoy!

blend insomnia- a new mix...

Last night I woke up at 2:30am and couldn't sleep for some reason, so I played records and put a mix together.  Here's a zshare link to it: you can leave a separate window open and listen to it,  or download the whole thing there.  

1:01;49 trl, one take, no serato!

4 Moms- Ummah (Slum Village Remix)

Everyday is just an extension of yesterday- Troublemakers

Glowing- Pete Rock

Bounce (Club Mix) - Dj Cam

Who You Wit (Instrumental) - Ski

The Way You Do It (Instrumental) - 9th Wonder

Tinseltown to Boogiedown (Instrumental) - Ali Shaheed Muhammed

She Lives In My Lap- Andre Benjamin

Silent Treatment (Black Thought's 87' You and Yours Mix)- The Roots

Freestylin' - Greyboy

Check Tha Vibe (Instrumental) - Dred Scott

Nuthin' Ta Lose (Nuthin' but Sax Mix) - Dred Scott

Ring Ring Ring (Piles and Piles of Demo Tapes Mix) - De La Soul

Soul Flower (live) - Brand New Heavies ft The Pharcyde

A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays - De La Soul

Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run Mix) - Billy Ocean

Everything She Wants - Wham!

Power of Love (Extended) - Huey Lewis and the News

Boogie in Your Butt - Eddie Murphy

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough - Micheal Jackson

Express- Andres

The Comeback of the Average Joe - Nikolaj Bentzon

That Lady - The Isley Brothers

Plastic Dreams - Jaydee

The Way You Move - Big Boi ft Sleepy Brown

Generally I scratch more on these mixes I make, but for some reason I didn't almost at all on this one.  I wanted it to mostly be long blends, some came out a little ehh, but a lot were good enough.  I might use this as a demo to give to some places for some djing work, or not! We'll see how much I still like it in a few days.

a blend insomnia mix

100th Post

100 Posts Old: From September 28th, 2005 to the Present, this blog has gone through a lot of states, jobs, living arrangements, and fun excursions.  Above was from today: a sandy island I paddled to.  No great white shark sightings.  Good times....
S/P in the muddy sand.  Lots of snails in my sandals from walking around there.  No great white sharks here either...
There was an outdoor concert going on nearby when I took this photo, and at first it sounded like some sick brazillian funk or something of interest, but about the time i took this photo the band started singing that song that goes 'you know i wish that i had JESSIE'S GIRLLLL' and I thought about Full House, and subsequently lost interest.

This was across the street, from the last photo.  I paddled around these boats a few days ago, also very cool.  Lot of money, floating around (not literally; manifested in ship-form currency, which is of no use if you can't sail- like me)
The moon= Swish!  Too obvious? I've been playing basketball at the lousiest hoops at the most dilapidated courts I can find around.  Much more interesting.  Swish!
Derek and I used to do our homework here before senior year in high school.  I went there recently to finish Atlas Shrugged, which was pretty good, until the end, when it turned into a comic book of sorts.  

I also took the GRE's recently, but signed my life away stating that I would not reveal anything about the test. (Graduate Readiness Exam- not like, a superhero test, or anything really worth being quiet about....)

Sleeveless Cardigans and Plaid Shorts...

...is an outfit i don't ever plan on wearing, to be completely honest. Numerous people in the area certainly do, however, and that's- well, just fine I guess. But my cardigan isn't a sweater- it's a mountain; yet another hike i did up in New Hampshire yesterday. Above is another silouhette self-portrait, shot at horseneck beach a week or so ago....

Mount Cardigan rests in west central NH, and has over 50 miles of trails that one can loop going up the thing. I had the opportunity to do this hike with an old friend named Derek who I hadn't seen in a few years- since he last came out and visited me in Big Sky. The trip we took was a loop that was about 5 miles, and almost 2000 feet elevation gain. Above, you can see the upper peak, and the lookers-right side was the trail we took (the holt trail), which turned into more of a climb than a hike, as you can see...

The holt trail is 1.1 miles, 1500 feet elevation gain, so it stayed interesting! I would not like to be descending that route at all, unless it was covered in snow, and i had a board strapped to my feet....the views stayed impressive through the climb, with clouds but no rain, which helped keep traction on those rocks.

The lookout tower atop Mt Cardigan, with derek next to it, looking quite proud....the view was 360 around and impressive. Short trip, good time to play some catch up with an old friend, and no plaid shorts on that mountain whatsoever....

6 pack of Old Moosilaukee

Trips to do something come first- almost always out of a certain necessity, and then the secondary step (generally the evening before) i decide to finally check out the weather. I've found that everywhere I've been in this country, I've always heard someone chime in the old saying "if you don't like the weather in _______, wait a minute." This, more often than not, always rings true- especially when you get stuck in some really lousy weather. New England in general seems to have had this phrase coined about the area, and I tend to agree, especially when you're standing on top of a mountain...

"40% Chance of Thunderstorms" sounds pretty damn ominous to be honest. What do you make of that the day before hand trying to do a hike? I guess most people would go to a mall instead. Well I still crossed more than a couple peoples paths yesterday, hiking up the beaver brook trail up Mt Moosilaukee. One could definitely make an argument than i'm much more partial to hikes with cool native american names, and I for one probably would not disagree with them.

...but what's better than this, really? Sure it required some effort (that's the trail, to the right of the waterfall) and it just kept going and going up the thing, but there's nothing like a tough hike that follows cool features the whole way- i mean taking breaks, at any point, always point out different details missed at first glance.

I was drenched in sweat climbing up this thing, but keeping a solid pace. I had read that this was a pretty challenging hike from the 2006 AMC WMNF book, and it was for the most part, but lots of maintenance and steps built into the slippery rock made it more challenging from an endurance perspective and less from a mountaineering/climbing one. I didn't care- I went up the mountain with a head thick of thoughts, walked right into the clouds, and cleared my head.

These photos do no justice to the constantly shifting weather that went on during the hike up- constantly becoming hot and sunny, to clouds whipping through the woods and turning everything much, much darker. I made good pace because I knew that the later in the day the more chance for severe weather to move in, and when the trees gave way to the last .4 miles of the summit, i knew that things could get interesting at a moments notice.

The head-high cairns stood like sleeping giants in these clouds that sprayed like a cold mist when it came by in large, sometimes dark patches. I made my way though and caught glimpses of an untold full view, which made what i did see all the more interesting. When I reached the summit there was a party of 4 celebrating...something, i didn't want to venture up that close to join- and certainly didn't want to take their photos (sorry!) There is a lot of rock piles up there indicating a foundation to a few different structures that once stood up there, and out of no where, someone said whats up to me from a Yoda-like position in the cover of one of these rock piles. "Where you coming from?" startled me, and i answered before i grasped the question (being most likely which trail i took up) "oh! uhm, er...montana" and that was the extent of that meeting. We exchanged something about the weather also, and he told me that this was the best the view was gonna get, and that the rain was coming. So I didn't even sit down when i got to the top, just said thanks, and kept going- making no eye contact with the ecstatic people taking photos of themselves next to the trailhead.

The grumbles from above began literally as I walked away from the summit. To my right something thunderous was happening, something i wanted no part of being up on that ridge. I began to think about similar circumstances and kept waiting for some imminent downfall to occur, expecting that as a prelude to the thunder and lightning. I got a little below treeline, but only felt totally confident when i was off the ridge that was flirting with the clouds the whole time. It did rain, but grumbles were the worst of the potential danger i was looking out for. Descending that trail in the rain, with wet rocks, is something i really don't recommend though, and had i not had on some climbing sneakers (which i use for biking and hiking) i would've certainly slipped a lot, and maybe even taken a ride down that waterfall....

The NH trip concluded with some pbr and some pool, laxodasical as ever. Now it's back to mass, shooting hoops at night and studying for the GRE test....

Movies I Almost Forgot About

The past few weeks have been nothing short of the definition of hair-raising, with a lot of sarcasm intended. I've been a one-man army here in southern mass, holding myself down single-handedly by trips to the local beach (the ocean-the real deal!), biking trails, and kayaking with my dad. I've also been looking less at craigslist job opportunities and concentrating my efforts on getting into graduate school in the fall for new media at emerson in boston. This opportunity has provided me with a chance to take the GRE's- and all this time I thought I was done with taking tests.....well it's been a solid goal to work towards for me, and in that pursuit I've been compiling my digi-portfolio, and these two videos are some gems i've uncovered that I almost forgot about....

"Code Name:Agent Zero" was shot back in 2003 in a day of driving around Chi with Lu, then edited/adjusted to make it look like an action movie. I totally forgot about this video, and still like it for how funny (i think) it is, and for the treatment of the video images with the multi-layered delay, something i used to mess around with a lot.

"The Swedish Meatball" still makes me laugh- it was originally an idea in spanish class back in high school with andy wright (his photo has a cameo in it), and the trailer was as far as the idea ever got. Swede-sploitation was the idea behind it- like a swedish action figure that doesn't say a word, just kicks some ass. The fake jerry bruckheimer quote says it all, "This is one meatball you don't want over for dinnner..."

Mt Lafayette via the Skookumchuck Trail

The clouds completely covered the sky yesterday morning, occasionally overflowing down in to the notches. A woman at the WMNF visitor center in Lincoln recited to me the very descriptive high-summit forcast for the day, complete with jargon in the entire range of pressure possibilities here and there- "So, you're saying it's not going to be sunny" i joked, really only being concerned if there was lightning to lookout for, which seemed a possibility in the look of the day. It had been a last minute decision the night before to drive up to New Hampshire to stay with a friend before doing this hike, and a rainy drive at that. Really, my only objective was to go on a lengthy walk in the woods. Keepin' it simple, right?

The lower forest was towering, old, and saturated. Birch trees shed bark like litter on the grounds while trail crew worked to clear channels so the trail wouldn't be washed out. I past 5 workers on the way up the Skookumchuck trail that morning, and made pretty decent time for what was described as a 5 mile/4 hour hike each way. Still had some snow to contend with in a few areas, and a lot of slippery rocks.

I had flashbacks of high school, hiking though the cloud forest in Costa Rica at times on this trip. The higher I got into these mountains the more the trees started to shorten, and look as if they were the only things holding the clouds away from the ground.

At 4.2 miles the Skookumchuck Trail summits onto Garfield Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Trail. From here I walked the ridge until hitting the top of Mt Lafayette, only 0.8 miles away. Looking at what the trail generally appears to be, from others photos online, gave yesterday's experience more appreciation from the ghostliness of it all. Visibility was short, understandbly, but it really made the ghostly bluffs more exciting. I guess imagination has something to do with that though....


Once there was an old building up atop Lafayette that's long since burned down. The old foundation was where I ate my lunch. Occasionally on the way down there would be breaks in the clouds, well enough to give small areas some definition in the distance, and by the bottom of the trail it was full-blown partly cloudy conditions, and with that warm enough to wake a few pesky bugs up. Really simple, fun and easy hike. Next time up there I'm taking a pack and going for a few days though, but i guess it's never 'long enough', for me at least. Started at 10:15, ate lunch up top at 12:45, went down from 1:45 to 3:15...10 miles, elevation gain of 3300 ft is what the gps told me...



Oh- and I saw a porcupine. But he kept moving, so the pictures were of a fuzzy porcupine, so no luck there....

When In Rome....

Truth be told, I've never been to Rome. Give me the opportunity and I wouldn't pass on it, but that offer hasn't popped up on the radar quite yet. Nevertheless, while beating on with my boat against the current, I continue the search- and lately it feels like I'm searching for everything, yet again. Mainly for a job, but the infrastructure that goes along with ripping a plant out, roots and all, and waiting for the transplant to occur seamlessly in the new location.

"A Walk in the Woods" has been my early summer reading, and I swear that Bill Bryson has been subconsciously telling me to hike the Appalachian Trail. The 'keep going' mentality relates to me in a long-distance driving sense, something I'm very familiar with, except in a much more entertaining fashion. Plus there's no griz out here on the east coast, which makes me much more apt to do some solo backpacking excursions. Not to mention how cool/different the forests are around here....

"Ohh my gaawwwd, John Singah Saaawwwgent...." echoed through some of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts hallways, and less in others understandbly. I did correlate between supposed infidels first arriving in ancient rome and hearing the boarish language, and listening to massachusett's accents talk about art, but I really tried not to let it bother me. As with most things lately, these are things I just need to get more used to hearing, since one can't live in the woods forever. Plus they were enjoying it- which is better than no attendance at a museum i guess, but damn- this was not the most impressive museum i've been to. Wish I'd took a picture, but I seriously walked by a guy sleeping on a bench that was working there. Oh, and someone needs to teach these school groups the difference between a gymnasium and an art museum! I'm getting old- look at all this complaining i'm doing, jeez....

I once heard that time was cyclical, and I was interested in the concept and wrote about it, some time ago. I only bring it up because, looking back at what I wrote then seemed so premature compared to now. I guess in the future this will take the same position as that writing, because I suppose it's an ever-developing concept that becomes larger and larger as life goes on. That's the big point though, no matter what, life goes on. I guess i get a bigger definition of that the longer it does, if that makes any sense....

...and I keep playing the "Will it Float?" game, but in a more extended-metaphor fashion than a literal one, if that makes sense either....

Edit: I have to mention my friends in LA's new work, The Glorious Internet Presents.....Porn Star Insurance, featuring Ron Jeremy....hilarious...

Destruction Brook Woods and the Lincoln Park Comet (RIP)

Finding leftover scraps of a dislocated and dilapidated history is, and may continue to be the theme for a minute here in Massachusetts. While I spend time pondering (and not soliciting) at this life-crossroad I've come to, there's a great opportunity to explore some places of interest- specifically to these leftover remnants of a much older past than I'm accustom to.

I stick to what I know, generally, as most do. Mountain biking is no exception. I'd walked through small parts of a town forest preserve here in Dartmouth called Destruction Brook Woods before, but I don't think I've biked it before. Well I did today. It sure wasn't the biking I was accustom to, but not much around here is. The tradeoff was the remnants of a foundation to two different houses, one of which I'd seen before, but the other had escaped me. The newer of the two foundations (to me) had a small stone shack behind it. Oh- and there was this water fountain that I didn't try pumping also.


But I couldn't find anything (online at least, didn't call shaggy) about the woods' history aside from when the town took it over to preserve it. Regardless, it was a fun local spot to ride, even though i could've pushed a wheel chair through most of the trails...


Here was another spot in the woods with another historical relic- this time from a more recent memory, but who knows why. This story probably is a less interesting one also, like how some guys ditched a car there and burned it, or something. Very random though....could be anything i guess.



Lincoln Park operated from 1894 to 1987, and all i knew about it before this afternoon was that there was a big dilapidated rollercoaster behind a fence near my parents house. After biking, and while eating a whopper (no relevance) I found a side road with a somewhat opened area to walk through. I could go into some detailed regurgitation of what i just read about this very interesting place, but anyone interested should just check it out where i did- The Lincoln Park Comet fansite. Lotta cool photos here and stories about the park. One thing I'll mention is that this rollercoaster was designed by the same guy who made the Cyclone at Coney Island, another ride I've been on.....

One Day It'll All Make Sense

The feeling that urged me to pack my things up and leave Montana felt like a virtual inevitability. Peeling the bandage off quick was the only way I could see doing it- prolonging the whole experience felt like it would only make the exodus that more difficult. In turn with those difficult feelings, clouded with a whole lot of uncertainty, I had to leave an amazing relationship, a good paying job (for the area at least), and a couple friends that could rival friends in any location that I have.

It rained most of that evening that I left. Slept somewhere I don't remember at a pull off in Wyoming (i think) and kept it moving early the next morning. I was pulling a uhaul trailer, averaging about 11 miles per gallon of gas through Wyoming and onto the Badlands of South Dakota. One trade off about the abundant rainfall was that it gave a 'dentist's office poster' quality to the badlands- one which i hadn't seen before, lush green-ness everywhere. Generally I had made this drive in the past earlier in the spring, and everything was generally very brown.

I found Chicago later that second day. Tolls were a burden unexpected because of the extra axle I was dragging, not to mention the sheer ridiculous number of them going into the city (like 4?!?) But good friends and good weather prevailed, and I did a lot of biking around the city in the two days I spent there.


..and then I got back to my family's house yesterday. Gotta tear down the old in order to build the new; We'll see how the next chapter begins...