TOP 10 videos of 2017

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over the course of the year, designboom has featured numerous projects in the fields of architecture, art, design and technology presented through the format of moving image. from a drone’s-eye-view of iceland’s stunning scenic landscape, to a robot making music, the short films offer a dynamic look at creative work through animated, documentary and digital formats. designboom looks back at the most memorable videos we watched in 2017.

1 – ballerina’s movements traced by algorithmically-generated geometries

video courtesy of EUPHRATES

euphrates — a japanese collaborative of artists, researchers, and designers led by masahiko sato at keio university — has an experimental short film that mesmerizingly follows the movement of a ballerina using a rotoscope animation method. the technique is ordinarily applied to trace motion picture footage, frame by frame. masahiko sato + euphrates’ interpretation builds on the approach to accurately shadow the step-by-step motion of the ballerina as she dances across the room.

2 – dress code’s ‘coke habit’ animation explains the different phases of addiction

video courtesy of dress code

new york-based production company dress code ny’s most recent in-house animation short, ‘coke’, discusses the complex stages of childhood addiction. the media production company uses provocative and elaborate animations using the trademark ‘coca cola’ colors in order to illustrate the dangers of addictive habits while referencing several famed surrealist artists such as dali, magritte, de chirico and escher.

3 –miki nemcek abstractly animates the transformation of larva into butterfly

video courtesy of miki nemcek

prague-based 3D artist miki nemcek has created a video that explores the stage when larva transforms into a butterfly. the title of the short exploration, .P.U.P.A., refers to an insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult. ‘I decided to dive into an endless variety of abstract compositions, forms, and atmospheres,’ explains nemcek. ‘this short film is a result of a hard work in a constantly relaxed mindset that comes naturally with slow and lightly hypnotical movements of the larval bodies.’

4 – stunning drone footage of iceland’s scenic landscape

video courtesy of jonathan besler

artists jonathan besler, kevin may and florian gampert have trekked across the scenic landscape of iceland to capture the most stunning views of the country. in a five minute video titled ‘the north awakens’, the artists record areal views of the rugged mountaintops, glaciers, and vivid northern lights painting the skies using a drone.

5 – fernando livschitz edits his own perception into dream-like scenes

video courtesy of black sheep films

‘one day I woke up and I saw everything in perspective…’ is the opening line of argentinian film director fernando livschitz’s latest short film. called ‘perspective’, the 2-minute long movie alters everyday scenes into surreal moments where airplanes have been shortened, bicycles have been erased and trains have a hand-drawn feeling. the creative’s passion for post-production has led him to achieve these sequences that sometimes make the viewer doubt between what’s real and what’s not.

6 – urbanears multiroom speakers: different moods for different rooms

video courtesy of urbanears

for the first time, urbanears brings sound to space with the connected ‘multiroom’ speakers. they unite generous and powerful sound with personality and endless audio possibilities. connectivity with smart devices, as well as paired speakers placed around the home, functions at a maximum ease-of-use to seamlessly integrate the technology into the everyday listening experience.

7 – robots vs. music, automatica by nigel stanford

video courtesy of nigel john stanford

sound expert and musician nigel stanford has released a music video for the title track on his new album ‘automatica’. the musical track, as well as its accompanying video, feature stanford himself along with the robots. though it may seem like the artificially intelligent musicians completely generated the music themselves, a combination of special effects and precisely timed footage create the image that they are.

8 – ken hermann and gem fletcher: the wrestlers of mongolia

video courtesy of ken hermann and gem fletcher

danish photographer ken hermann and british art director gem fletcher’s project ‘bökh’ is a short film and photo series which explores the culture of wrestling in mongolia. capturing the vibrant costumes and vast open landscape, the film presents a distanced perspective of the traditional sport.

9 – 567 printers create color-changing backdrop in OK GO music video

video courtesy of OK GO

american rock band OK GO amazes again with the latest in their line of entertainingly creative music videos. the quartet has delivered some impressive visuals in past OK GO music video hits: choreographing an entire routine using treadmills, floating around in zero gravity, and now 567 printers make an ever-changing multicolored backdrop for the group in their latest video, ‘obsession’.

10 – if famous filmmakers made recipe videos

video courtesy of david ma

what if wes anderson made s’mores? how about if quentin tarantino tried his hand at making spaghetti and meatballs? these are just some of the questions that self described freelance foodie-for-hire david ma considered while coming up with his latest food films. the series of short movies reimagines the standard recipe video in the style of four famous directors: wes anderson, quentin tarantino, alfonso cuarón, and michael bay.