The Most Quoted Man in News

Andrew David Watson has produced this wonderful portrait of Greg Packer for the New York Times: Packer is actually a road worker, but  has spent the past two decades standing in the first row at countless events and thus attracted the attention of many journalists. After all, someone always standing at the front must be determined to make some sort of statement. And Greg Packer always has a suitable quote handy.

Packer managed to not only meet two popes and four U.S. presidents, but also snuck in to Whitney Houston's funeral and camped outside the Apple Store as the iPhone came out. The result? Hundreds of quotations in all sorts of newspapers and the unofficial title of 'The Most Quoted Man in News'.

Today it's become a lot more difficult for Packer since the AP news agency issued a memo that a certain Greg Packer, should whenever possible, no longer be quoted. "That in itself is also an achievement," said Packer. He doesn't consider himself to be a media troll. Instead he sees advantages for both sides: the journalists get quotes and he gets memories for the family album.

Sci-Fi Short Film Azarkant

That ambitious sci-fi movies do not need a huge team or millions of dollars was proved the beginning of the year, in part by the Berlin student Caleb Lechowski with R'ha. Also Andrey Klimov short film Azarkant has no need to hide away from the alleged professional competition. With the exception of the music the short was created entirely in-house at a home desktop computer. Azarkant is impressive, especially in its technical aspects. The story, of distant space travelers who encounters an abandoned spacecraft with not-so-very-nice owners, is of course in itself nothing new. But then it's not required either: Azarkant is ultimately primarily an ode to his favorite directors, says Klimov.

The First 5 Minutes of 10.000 Movies

Beautiful YouTube / render gimmicks by SequiturMedia: The following five minute video shows the first five minutes of not less than 10,000 films which can be zoomed to 10 x 10 videos with a click. According to the video description, the rendering of the video took a whole month. A list of the films is also available.

Short Film: Dia De Los Muertos

After Halloween the Day of the Dead follows, at least in Mexico and other Spanish-born cultures. The celebration of Día de Muertos traditionally begins on 31 October and ends on the second of November. During this time deceased family members are remembered and are believed to visit their families. Therefore, it is not a time of mourning, but celebrated through a colorful and joyous festival.

For this Mexican holiday the animated short film of the same name and winner of the Student Academy Award Goldmdaille, Dia De Los Muertos, fits beautifully. A truly beautiful story that introduces the spirit and meaning of this wonderful day.

Short Film: Little Duck

James Murphy, known as the founder and mastermind of the now dead music project LCD Soundsystem, has moved on to join the filmmakers. As part of Canon's Project Imaginat10n he produced the short film Little Duck. Users could submit individual images on the project site, and on this basis the participating filmmakers subsequently wrote the screenplay. The 15-minute short film is about a young man who travels from New York back to his old Japanese home, where he meets his brother.

Short Film: Table Manners

Once again a contribution from the random-acts-short film series of the British Channel 4, which has now grown to over 400 short films. In Table Manners Rebecca Manley brings to life with dolls three different forest and meadow inhabitants. They're looking for food, but each of the three is looking for something different. And how is it they say: There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Short Film: A Good Life, Too

Alonzo Clemons suffered a brain injury as a child, which restricted his language skills among others. In the the time that followed Clemons spent more than institutionalised. But he finally made his talent into his profession. As a sculptor, he now works in Boulder - and is thankful for his life after all. The following brief portrait by Joseph Le Baron goes a bit overboard with the music , but makes nice use of motion graphics to emphasize Clemons broken words.