On a day like today when I want to throw my computer out the window and fly to New Zealand, videos like this make me smile and keep at it.

Her Morning Elegance
Directed by: Oren Lavie, Yuval & Merav Nathan
Featuring: Shir Shomron
Photography: Eyal Landesman
Color: Todd Iorio at Resolution
© 2009 A Quarter Past Wonderful

This footage is from Samsung’s latest commercial to promote their LED technology for TVs. Armed with a hell of a lot of smart sheep, LEDS, and careful planning, they took to the hills of Wales to film. The “Baaa-Studs” team consisting of a sheperd, a cameraman, and several sheepdogs are the brains behind the ad. Released only a week ago, it’s already a massive viral hit. It seems that all the geeks, myself included, are blogging about the baaaad ass sheep.

This past weekend I was introduced to the work of animated cult film animator Don Hertzfeldt. In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeldt to produce promotional segments for their network. The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel rejected all of them and they were never aired…Rejected is a series of these and other supposedly commissioned advertisements that were rejected immediately upon review. At the end of the film, the entire animated world collapses in upon himself in a sequence that blends traditional animation, stop-motion, and experimental photography. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. The short became a massive online viral hit. Don is currently in production on a 6th animated short at his studio Bitter Films productions in Los Angeles.