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Motion Graphics

WWF Moving Still Photos

By Delphine Hirasuna |

With the right technology (and talent), there’s no such thing as still photos anymore. The technique in this video is called “parallax effect,” which makes it appear that objects closer to the viewer move faster than those that are farther away. Joe Fellows from Make Productions in London made this film using still images from the World Wildlife Fund archives. As quoted in SLRLounge.com, Fellows explains, “We used Photoshop to cut out individual parts and then animated them in After Effects…There was no 3D mapping, all in 2D. There are many layers per shot, the ears, the teeth, the whiskers, the head, the body, the background are all separate layers. Then the layers are parented to one another and moved either by position or by using something called the puppet tool.” Set to the music of “What If This Storm Ends” by Snow Patrol, the result is a “high-speed” slow-motion parallax sequence film that presents a poetic, dreamlike study of nature in motion.

Architecture

A Room With a Point-of-View

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Those who really want to get into religion may want to check out the Son of Heaven Hotel, better known in China as the Tianzi Garden Hotel. Located in the little town of Langfang, Hebei Province, near Beijing, the hotel is constructed in the likeness of three traditional Chinese gods — (left to right) Shou, the god of longevity; Fu, the god of fortune, and Lu, the god of prosperity.

The ten-story hotel was recognized in 2001 by Guinness World Record for being the “world’s biggest image hotel.” The rooms are said to be “adequate,” but the Son of Heaven Hotel does have two suites — one in the “peach” held in Shou’s hand and a presidential suite on the ninth floor. The windows are camouflaged by the brocade-like pattern. The inconspicuous hotel entrance is on the left, at the bottom of Shou’s long sleeve. It is unclear whether any guestrooms are available in Shou, Fu and Lu’s heads. Although this hotel has not received a prestigious Michelin star rating, if you get to sleep in the hand or belly of a god, it’s bound to be a heavenly experience.