Michael VanPutten

While working on my undergraduate degree I used to take some time to sit in Waldo Library and read magazines — looking for visual inspiration, interesting ideas, etc. I loved to read about everything. This was during the mid to late 1990s when Wired magazine was at its best, and when I first learned about […]

This morning I was listening to the NPR FreshAir podcast from Feb. 22, 2008. One of the segments on the show, titled “An Oscar with your ‘Ratatouille’?”, presented an interview with writer/director Brad Bird and comedian/actor Patton Oswalt. During the segment Bird describes why he wanted Oswalt to play the role of rat/chef in Pixar’s […]

If you want to see some examples of impressive “impossible” photography, then look no further than Holger Pooten, a photographer who works in the UK and Germany for companies like Nike, Adidas, Vogue, and Intel. I would love to learn more about the techniques he uses to capture images like the one pictured above of […]

Nicole really enjoys designing her own greeting cards. While searching for other personal card making tools that she might enjoy using I came across a gem called Pop-Up Card Designer. I first read about this simple piece of software while reading through the Make Magazine Web site.
The interface for the software is very simple and […]

My wife had knee surgery today. As she was resting in the recovery room, I sat next to her, hunched over a laptop in my lap. I was ‘catching up’ on my RSS feeds which I have not read avidly for four to eight weeks now. As I tapped my way through categories and posts […]

A friend shared a really neat video with me today: an intro to the 7th annual helpmann awards 2007, where Raymond Crowe, a talented shadow puppeteer, did a fun presentation over Louis Armstrong’s “What a wonderful world”.

Ed (aka m703324 on YouTube.com) posted a very nice stop motion animation titled “NO boundaries“. He created the animation using a digital camera, chalk, and a chalkboard in one of his employer’s conference rooms. Ed’s notes state:
A little stop motion animation I made for the company I work for. In a way It’s a little […]

(source link via digg.com) Ysabella Brave sings blues, jazz, and the occasional pop song to karaoke audio CDs. Thus far, Ysabella has covered nearly 50 songs. Some may think that Ysabella’s singing skills would not land her any recording contracts. However, she is a very likable web talent. Ysabella does not take herself too seriously […]

Another ‘winter break re-discovery’ from my archived bookmarks: back in 2003 I came across Nina Paley’s “Sitayana Sings the Blues“. Nina did a wonderful job of animating gorgeous characters from the Indian epic of Ramayana to songs sung by Annette Harshaw. It does not look like Nina ever finished publishing this animated feature (or it […]

Thomasz Baginski wrote and directed a short animated piece titled ‘Fallen Art‘. The piece was created by Platige Image, a Polish visual effects company.
Fallen Art is a story about generals, soldiers, and a very special project (watch the video — I will not ruin the surprise for you!). Baginski uses sound to weave this tale. […]