Breaking Dawn

I went to see the new Twilight film this weekend. We went on the opening night and the cinema was jam packed, which was a much more exciting way to watch the film. I was really impressed with the film, I think it was pretty accurate to the book and if you are a twilight fan you will be pleased. It started off a little slow with the wedding and honeymoon but towards the end I think it was one of the most dramatic and fast paced film of the series. Watching Bella's slow transformation through pregnancy and her death was actually quite scary, and even though we had read the book, mum and I both hid behind our hands at points! It was really quite gruesome when her bones were breaking in the birth scene. I was also quite impressed by the way Jacob's point of view and the alpha wolf scene was interwoven in the film. I think it was done quite effectively and fairly easy to understand. In the book this is done in a different section, completely from Jacob's view point. I was really intrigued to see where the film would end, I wasn't disappointed as we got to see Renesme and a glimpse of vampire Bella, ending with her blood red eyes.

Watch the trailer here. The wedding scene was stunning and Bella's dress was just beautiful, with the lace and button detail. I'm looking forward to seeing part 2 next year!

 

Frozen Planet

This new David Attenborough series Frozen Planet has been absolutely stunning. The filming is beautiful, the animals are so funny and every episode is really emotional. I love seeing behind the scenes how extreme the conditions were for the camera crew. Living amongst thousands of penguins sent them a bit crazy at one point! There have been some fantastic slow motion shots of the animals but the most impressive so far were the snowflake formations. Each one is unique, two identical snowflakes have never been found!

We are half way through the series now, I am really intruiged to see the final episode, which addresses the issue of global warming. There has been some controversy recently in the news as the bbc are planning to sell the series abroad without the seventh episode, as countries abroad are sceptical to climate change. But I agree with this line from the guardian "Frozen Planet has a duty to inspire debate as well as wonder". Frozen Planet is on again on Wednesday at 9pm.

Photorealistic

When I first saw these images I assumed they were photographs taken with a blue filter. Even after a closer look I still did not believe they were hand drawn with a biro. Yes a BIRO! Its unbelievable, they look so realistic! Juan Francisco Casas is a spanish artist and his breathtaking pieces of work have been exhibited all over the world. Each image is around 10ft high and can take up to four ball point biro pens to draw! His inspiration comes from his own photographs of nights out with his firends.

You can see his website here http://www.juanfranciscocasas.com/

Also check out my friend Bex Harmen, she is also a very talented artist drawing with biros. I wish I could draw!

Dream Big

'Dream Big' was an Incredible project from american designer Peter Fecteau. The mosaic of Martin Luther King is made up of 4,242 rubik's cubes! The piece was on display during the 2010 ArtPrize competition in Michigan. The planning involved in this is fantastic, I am hopeless at rubik's cube and I don't think I would have anywhere near the patience to create something as complex and stunning as this.  http://petefecteau.com/2011/04/15/dream-big/

Against the Grain

Brilliantly animated stop motion by Jonathan Chong (aka dropbear) for new track 'Against the Grain' from Melbourne indie folk artist Hudson. Not only a catchy song but a wonderfully bright and energetic motion piece. It makes me want to buy another pack of colourful pencils to play with like I did when I was a kid!

You can find more work from Jonathan here
http://vimeo.com/dropbear.

Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

Heinz Maier

Amazing photography by Heinz Maier, the high speed photography really captures the most unique water sculptures. His photographs are really outstanding and very different to other water droplets I have seen before. The colours, the lighting, everything about these photographs are stunning. I love the 'water rabbit' (third photo down) water droplet, it looks so perfect, It looks like it could be a glass sculpture! You can see many more of his experimental photographs on his flikr page.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/cymaii.  For more high speed water droplet photos have a look at Shinichi Maruyama's work, a popular post on my blog.  http://rosieslade.blogspot.com/2011/02/water-sculptures.htmll

In your Arms

I have been a fan of Kina Grannis for a few years now. Originally I followed her youtube account to listen to her beautiful cover songs. Her newest video for her own song 'In your arms' is a genius stop motion production. Director Greg Jardin worked with Kina for two years to shoot a music video made from 288,000 jelly beans! Below is the making of video, its really great to see Kina involved with the shoot, actually lying on top of the jelly beans instead of using a green screen. The video shows just how laborious and time consuming this sort of production takes, but how the outcome is worth it!

You can see the music video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOu0DuxFAT0&feature=relmfu.

Love Hearts and Crosses

I have started a slight obsession with owls recently, I have no idea why, but this is the second owl necklace I have bought recently. I really love this jewellery site Love Hearts and Crosses, there are some cute little pieces of jewellery and accessories, its really hard to resist spending my money!

Longest Halloween Weekend Ever

I made the most of my weekend in Bristol, and went to see my sister Sophie too. This halloween felt like the longest one ever, as celebrations went on over the whole weekend! On the monday night Sophie was promoting an event in Bristol which we all went along to. Again, pretty lame with the outfit on my behalf, last minute devil ears was all I had! Sophie's friends however went to much more effort! My favorite was the Mad Hatter and Avatar!

Halloween Inspiration

Wish I had had time to get a proper halloween outfit sorted this year. Below are a few things I found on the net but I didn't have the time to do. Nail art and face paint would have looked way better, even if they are time consuming. Ah well, there is always next year. 1. Dia de los Muertos, 2. Sugar Skull, 3. Halloween Nail Art, 4. Splatter Nails. 

Dia de los Muertos

For halloween this year, I went down to see my friends from Bristol. Since I have been working lots recently I didn't get much chance to prepare an outfit so I was pretty lame this year and went as a witch. My friend Alice however became the make up artist for the night with her mexican dia de los muertos inspired halloween face paint. Halloween in mexico is a day of remembrance, celebration,  and happiness. We definitely had a lot of fun that night and I think everyone looked really good.

Lille

I have only just discovered the wonderful Lisa Hannigan. This music video for her song Lille is so creative, definitely the best pop up book I have ever seen! Lisa was the vocal partner of Damien Rice on his albums O and 9. She has recently released her second album passenger and my friend Thom has been sharing his love for her and kindly given me lots of her music.

Button Cookies

How cute are these little button biscuits! I can't remember where I found this image, I think I stumbled across it on http://pinterest.com/ They look really simple to make so might have to try some baking again soon! I know my friend Ellie will absolutely love these, she is a tad obsessed with buttons!

Glitter Pots

I know I have blogged quite a bit about nail art recently, but I have only just discovered these nail glitter pots from gosh. You paint a thin layer of base coat and then dip your finger in the pot, the glitter sticks straight to your nail and you can brush off the excess glitter. Sounds simple enough, but I still managed to make a mess of everything getting glitter everywhere! The end result looks great, however it feels a bit like sandpaper which is a little annoying. You can get the glitter pots in lots of different colours, I thought I would stick with the gold for now, I look a bit festive. Its too early to get excited about christmas though.

Inception

I watched Inception again this weekend with Mum, its one of my favorite films, it really gets me thinking ages after the film has finished. Christopher Nolan did an excellent job directing this film, I have just come across a video explaining how they filmed the rotating corridor and zero gravity scenes. I was really surprised to find that there was very little CGI effects, it was all stunts. It was so well thought out and the structures that were built to film it were incredible!  Joseph Gordon-Levitt performed all of his own stunts, I think he is amazing. He said that there can be "no substitue for real human energy performance" which is why these scenes look so fantastic. If you haven't already seen the film, you must! It may be a little confusing at first, but once you have a basic understanding of lucid dreaming and get to know the characters you are really sucked in to the story line.  It is definitely one of my favorite films.

La Blogotheque

So in love with this video right now. Lianne La Havas has such a nice soulful voice, its filmed in the streets of Paris as part of the Take Away show on LaBlogothque. Its just so beautiful, someone take me to Paris please! I can't believe all those people just watch her pass, I would want to listen right to the end. There are lots of other good videos on the youtube channel, check it out. Also Look for Lianne La Havas,  an up and coming artist, I love her!

Halloween ideas??

So I have managed to get some time off work to go to Bristol on the weekend of Halloween. I am really excited to see everyone again, and we are going to go all out this year with fancy dress and go out to Motion for the JustJack event. It was all a bit last minute though and now I am stuck with no time to get a halloween outfit! I was thinking of maybe being the Queen of Hearts, or maybe Cruella Deville, but are disney villains scary enough for halloween?? Last year Rachel and I found these funny little children's outfits in tesco, I was a vampire and she was a pumcat.. a pumkin/cat. I guess I could always go as something dead again, with some fake blood.. I need inspiration!

Cecilia Austin.. Amelie

Absolutely love these amelie inspired photographs by Cecilia Austin. http://www.ceciliaaustin.com/personal. The colour and the outer glow are just beautiful. It really brings the focus on to the models face, such wonderful lighting. This photo is a re creation from the film title sequence where young Amelie eats raspberries from her fingers. You can see the original shot in my post from before, here. Seeing these have made me want to watch the film again, its just so romantic, and happy, its my favorite film as it will always make me smile. And of course its in french! bien sûr.

Breakdancing Bears

Love the new weetabix advert from BBH London agency, where a nine year old girl performs an amazing street dance routine after eating her cereal, and is surrounded by breakdancing bears! I found this behind the scenes video of the shoot and was really surprised to find out the bears were actually filmed in life size costumes with break dancers inside! There were also smaller puppets filmed in the same green screen technique. Altogether I think its edited really well, and is an effective advert portraying their 'fuel for fun' campaign. BBH also produced the new british airways brand campaign and the very funny sequel advert for yeo valley - Live in Harmony, boyband. Two other really great adverts on tv right now.  http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/#!/europe

Move like you want

Today, Ben Howard added new dates to his tour, so I bought my sister Sophie an early birthday present to see him with me in Bristol in February. I am very excited even though its months away! Lucky Pete and Ellie bought tickets before and are seeing him at Thekla in Bristol in a couple of days.. jealous! Watch this video of his song 'move like you want' my favorite from his ep. Thanks to my friend Thom today too who sent me the delux edition album. Lots of Ben Howard love right now!