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A Lovingly Crafted Film To Celebrate Books. Can You Say Irony?




Despite the bizarre irony that a book publishing company is celebrating their 25th anniversary with something you watch (a film execution) in lieu of something you read (an actual book), this little animated short is lovingly crafted and fun to watch.



Created by Apt Studio and Asylum Films to celebrate 4th Estate Publishers' 25th Anniversary, this stop-motion film animates a world in which books ultimately reign. Produced over a three-week period last autumn, each scene was shot on a home-made dolly by -- as they like to call themselves -- an 'insane bunch of animators'.

A London-based imprint of the Harper Collins publishing house, the 4th Estate are known for releasing well-selected and beautifully covered titles such as Isabel Allende’s The Sum of Our Days and Half of a Yellow Sun by Orange Broadband prize-winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in recent years. Interestingly enough, the term fourth estate actually refers to the press, going back to the first half of the 19th century when there were 'estates of the realm' dividing European society in the Middle Ages.

here are a few beautiful stills for you:





and a peek at just some of the very hard work that goes into something like this:








and now, the final product:


Directed, produced and edited by Apt Studios and Asylum Films.

credits:
Producers: Peter Collingridge, James Bridle
For Asylum:
Directors: Ben Falk, Josiah Newbolt
Producer: Phil Vanier
Editor: Josiah Newbolt
Director of Photography: Ben Falk
Lighting Technician: Max McGill
Production Designer: Philippa Culpepper
Supervising Animators: Jordan Wood, Mickey Bignell
Animators: Susie Jones, Alex Major
Model Makers: Isabella Rising, Ed Arthur, Max McGill, Matt Williams, Georgina Ferguson, Rebecca Ford, Jake Snellin, Adam Beautement, John Lush, Henry Culpepper, Sally Langford, Willa Culpepper, Rachel Mcintyre, Alex Burr
Post Production: Liam O’Connor, Christian Sturm
Music: Mike Chalmers aka Actionfist
Sound Design: Josiah Newbolt, Phil Vanier
Special Thanks: John Lyons

Make No Bones About It, Stephen Einhorn Is Much More Than A Jeweler.




We've all seen the large amount of Goth skull jewelry out there. And Stephen Einhorn of the UK is yet another who creates jewellery collections which include skulls of all types. But he also makes high end skull and bone items for the home that include water taps, ashtrays, corkscrews, even egg cups. In addition to those objects, he makes fire pits, candle cards and more.

Below are the water taps (or faucets, as we call them in the US). Although you will love them and want to get them for your home, they are made in conjunction with with Barber Wilson's & Company Ltd and therefore ONLY fit onto their taps & fittings. The taps are available in brass or chrome and can be customized with colored Swarovski Crystal eyes.


Above: his hand cast taps start at $332.00 USD



above: Brass drain overflow for tub, prices start at $240.00 USD

For customers outside the UK you can contact Barber Wilson for information on their faucets via export@barwil.co.uk or telephone/fax +44 20 88 88 91 88. Barber Wilson also has distributors in the USA and Germany. If you already own a set of Barber Wilson taps/faucets, you can remove the existing heads and easily replace them with their Capstan Heads.

Other skull items for the home include the following;

above: The skull head ashtray is available in solid sterling silver or gold. Price start at $904.00 USD

above: Solid sterling silver skull head egg cups starting at $904.00 (also available in gold)

Above: skull corkscrew complete with Swarovski eyes. Chrome plated brass. Priced at $225.00 USD

His products range from jewelry to bathroom taps, from his 'nail stools' to his patented Candle Cards. Everything has been designed by him and manufactured in his London workshops.

His patented Candle Cards:


His Fang cufflinks are available in gold or silver:


His "fire gardens" resemble mini Stone Henge's complete with pewter skeletons:


Gothic Fire Garden prices start at $107.00 USD

Another unique aspect of Stephen's work worth noting is his "breakable" packaging, a wonderful way to give a gift on Valentine's Day. A painted plaster Heart is created around the jewelry one can 'bust' open to discover the gift inside.






About the designer:


Stephen Einhorn himself designs the core product range, as well as custom making a large number of bespoke commissions for individual customers. Everything is hand made. Their shop and workshops are in Islington, London. All the items shown in this post are available either through the Stephen Einhorn Shop and Showroom at 210 Upper Street, Islington, N1 1RL or worldwide through this secure online shop.

If you aren't familiar with his jewellery, it's definitely something you should see. In addition to his large selection of engagement and wedding rings, he has several collections for men and women that include fine jewelry of real gold and sterling silver. The collections range from tattoo-inspired pieces, goth, rock n' roll, hearts, and more.



Stephen Einhorn Ltd

210 Upper Street
Islington, London
N1 1RL.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7359 4977

New Star Trek Merchandise Coming To You At Warp Speed





Pictures of Mattel’s new Star Trek Barbies were released on Wednesday causing a stir among Trekkies, eagerly anticipating Paramount’s May release of the film, “Star Trek,” chronicling the earliest days of Captain Kirk and Spock.



The toys’ images, released by CBS Consumer Products, which owns the licensing rights for Star Trek consumer products, show the three dolls, which are modeled after the three actors playing Captain Kirk, Spock, and Lieutenant Uhura in the film, which is set to be released in theaters on May 8th.


above: The Mattel Star Trek Barbie packaging may change before release
Below are still from the upcoming film, where you can see the actors after whom the dolls are modeled; Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Zoe Saldana as Lt. Uhura:





The dolls will hit shelves in April (psst... you can pre-order them here now), over a decade after Mattel released a Barbie and Ken Star Trek themed collectible set in 1996 (shown below) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the cult hit TV show.


above: Unlike the new line made to resemble the actors, the 1996 set features Barbie and Ken themselves dressed as original series characters.
Pre-Order the Star Trek Barbie Collection here now


The upcoming release of the new film is bringing out tons of fabulous merchandising, new AND retro. Here's some pics of yet to be released Star Trek items from Playmates:


above: the Command Collection figures include Original Spock, left, McCoy, Kirk, young Spock and Nero.




Pre-order them here!


Star Trek Pez depicts the original crew of Star Trek The Original Series in a gift set including eight dispensers and candy in assorted flavors. The dispensers included depict the original crew (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov), plus the NCC-1701 Enterprise. The people at Pez Candy Inc. claim that the Enterprise is unique for Pez as it depicts a ’scene’ (a Pez first), where you see the ship emerging from a nebula cloud.




The set has a limited run of only 250,000, so they may go fast. Each box has a special numbered sticker as well. The complete Limited Edition Star Trek Pez Collectors Gift Set costs around $20. You can find it here at Amazon.

If you're a movie poster collector, this one is nicely designed:


Buy it here.

And full sized replica of Captain Kirk's chair will be available for $2199.99 this coming May (yep, I swear it's true):

pre-order it here.

find Star Trek collectibles, exclusives and more here


Star Trek Movie official site

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