The first computer generated facial animation from 1974

In 1974, Frederic Parke received a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah College of Engineering, where he also created the first computer generated physically-modeled human face. Parke’s original idea of virtual modeling has seen exponential advancements as technology that was once only accessible at a top university research facility underwent major development and democratization in the span of four decades.

Today, a combination of 3D scanning and Web GL allows us to view a hyper-realistic 3D modeled head in interactive real time. Side by side, the difference between them is striking. What once required a tremendous amount of computing power just to display can now be viewed in-browser.

Brooklyn to Manhattan on film: Thomas Edison crosses the Brooklyn Bridge by train


Constructed in 1883, the East River Bridge, later dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, was once the longest suspension bridge in the world, and remains one of the most iconic architectural marvels today. In 1899, Edison captured this leisurely train ride across the river on his Samsung Wave. Notice the poor video resolution in comparison to Tesla’s iPhone.

Motorists: beware the mechanical whir of leisure. Criterion Collection’s wreckage-filled stills from Weekend

Although we love l’art pour l’art as much as the next postmodern aesthete-cum-aviator themed weblog, we’re also thoroughgoing political absurdists. So, all in all, we’re glad Jean-Luc Godard got off that weirdly Catholic purism of the early Cahiers du Cinema crowd and delved into his own committed style of satirical Marxism (even if, at times, it admittedly vacillates between incoherence and heavy handedness).

One of the more memorable gems of anti-capitalist cinema is, in our opinions, the mind-numbingly long traffic jam tracking shot in Weekend. Criterion Collection has amassed this lovely gallery of twisted metal from the film, reproduced here for your alienated pleasure.








via Criterion Collection

“The only thing that can get a bit trying up here during the winter is a tremendous sense of isolation”—Haunting cinemagraphs from Kubrick’s The Shining

In the spirit of hurricane-induced house arrest, we offer yet another series of cinemagraphs to continue our celebration of Kubrick’s distinctive mise-en-scene, which we began a while back with 2001. What better cure for infrastructural paralysis than the desolate-yet-claustrophobic creepiness of being trapped inside with The Shining?




Sons of the Clouds makes a powerful demand for human rights in Western Sahara


We had the chance to catch producers Javier Bardem and Lilly Hartley, along with director Alvaro Longoria and Kerry Kennedy from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights present their compelling new documentary, Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony this week at the IFC Center.

The film elucidates the negligence and brutality suffered by the Sahrawi people of the Western Sahara following in the wake of Spanish decolonization. The ongoing conflict resulting from Morocco’s annexation of the Western Sahara by purportedly nonviolent occupation has resulted in a humanitarian crisis for the Sahrawi living in both the occupied territory and as exiled refugees. After participating in a film festival benefiting a Sahrawi refugee camp, actor Javier Bardem took up the cause of petitioning for UN aid and recognition from the Spanish government to persuade Morocco to enact a democratic referendum determining the status of the region.

What we found most interesting was the documentary’s nuanced exploration of several intersecting layers in the complicated geopolitical milieu of northern Africa: the endurance of diverse cultural identities, the colonial partitioning of the African continent by Europe, the eventual withdrawal of European colonial power, and the bifurcation of alliances which persist even after the end of the Cold War.

Sign the petition to help Bardem & co. encourage political leaders to demand a human rights mandate for the UN Peacekeeping mission in the Western Sahara.

A series of minimalist cinemagraphs from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey

It’s been well over 40 years since its debut, and not only does 2001 stand firmly in cinematic history, but it still reigns supreme among decades of sci-fi films which came after and were more than likely inspired by it. Perhaps the ideal format to nurture our obsession with the timeless elegance of his minimalism, this series of cinemagraphs does away with contextual distraction, leaving us alone in the room with nothing but pure Style and the unfathomable desolation of space. As a pioneer of atmospherically driven film, we’d like to think Stan would’ve appreciated the meticulous restraint with which these were approached.