When done right, stop motion films can be some of the coolest videos around. Canada-based Dumais Studio and Full Serve Productions recently released The Long Haul, an animated short film created with 4,000 still photographs. Check it out:

According to the production house,

The concept was to show the stages of an evolving relationship and the passing of trends, focusing on sending a message that,in the end, a good relationship lasts. The pivotal point was to communicate our interest in developing long standing relationships with our clients and that weʼre not just a flash in the pan.

Cheers to that!

The latest short film from London Squared Productions is a beautiful meditation on the people of New York. These glimpses of life in the city are told with the sensibility of an audio slideshow but made unique with subtle animation. Enjoy:

If there is one documentary you need to see this year, it is the recent Oscilloscope Laboratories release Flow - an incredibly informative & beautiful film about the global water crisis.

Here’s the synopsis from the site,

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question ‘CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?’

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

Dubbed “the scariest movie at the (2008) Sundance Film Festival” by Wired Magazine, I found this film to be absolutely riveting but also touching. It serves both as an urgent wake-up call and poignant love letter to the substance that sustains us all. So drop what you’re doing and go see this film!!

If it’s not in a theatres near you, you can buy the Flow DVD and find Flow on Netflix.

Check out this gorgeous new music video by Xavier Chassaing for musician Fedaden’s song “contre coeur”. The video was created entirely with a still camera using an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques from more than 35,000 photographs. It certainly is an eye-opener in terms of what you can do with hard work and a still camera.

Thanks to Adam for the tip!

Today as the world comes together for Obama’s Inauguration, a team of innovators are working to bring us closer through the power of video.

The Global Lives Project is a collective effort of more than 250 volunteer filmmakers, artists, architects, programmers and everyday people from around the world to build and display a video library of human life experience. Their goal is to record 24 hours in the lives of ten people that roughly represent the diversity of our planet’s population.

These ten lives will come together in an innovative video installation and form the basis of a collaborative online video encyclopedia of human life. Sound cool? If you’re in Asia, Eastern Europe or Africa, the project is looking for additional teams. Visit GlobalLives.org for more info!

Ten artists going to Berlin to make street art? You had me at hello. The Antagonist Art Movement, an artist collective that was started in New York City in 1988, has recently released a DIY adventure film about their raucous trip to Berlin.

As Flavorpill notes,

Berlin looks like a creative paradise. Whether turning abandoned apartment blocks into installation pieces or kicking it with likeminded hosts over dinner, the group uses the city as a perfect backdrop to break out of comfort zones and reflect.

That’s it - we’re all moving to Berlin!

You can buy the DVD here.

The Balloon Project started with the idea to send a video camera over the city of San Francisco, no strings attached: just the wind, gravity and chasing it down wherever it lands. As they explain on the website,

In 2005, Ira Mowen and Luca Antonucci had an idea to capture an aerial vie of San Francisco. After only a few days of planning, they strapped a video camera to 30 red, helium-filled balloons and let it go from the highest point in the city, Twin Peaks. As this Eye-in-the-Sky slowly lingered over the city, the co-conspirators stood spell-bound. Quite suddenly, a gust of wind blew the camera south and the adventure started.

Here is a balloon’s eye view from above Paris. It was created by Parisian artist ydl with music by in broken english.

And this is a unique video dedicated to the Balloon Project that was created with the use of a projector:

NARAL Pro-Choice America’s new free.will.power initiative is definitely one of the most innovative and creative campaigns to come out of the pro-choice movement. In an effort to reach out to a new generation of activists, NARAL has turned to web video and social-networking to spread awareness of reproductive rights. And they’re doing it with STYLE.

The campaign has released three videos featuring young spoken word artists Shira Erlichmann, Alvin Lau and Deja Taylor as well as music by DJ Spooky. The free.will.power website also features a quiz, interactive map and t-shirt contest (winning prize is a 1,000 bucks people!)

The thing I like about the videos is that they all go together but each have a different flavor:

Free.

Will.

Power.

“Hey there Bret, I see you’re looking down…” This video from New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords (Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) cheers me up every time.

And if you haven’t seen Jemaine Clement in the hipster’s-wet-dream that is Eagle vs. Shark, you absolutely must. Full trailer here:

Unsuccessful Job Application Video by Orange Raisin (otherwise known as Michael A. Charles), is a hilarious poke at the arts industry and the people who want to be a part of it. It’s also a brilliant ploy to bring attention to his band Sea Water Bliss which does in fact appear to be a real despite their slogan, “At first you might think it’s children’s music, but then you listen more closely and realize it’s not meant for children at all.” Listen to them here.