"Spacious Thoughts" NASA feat. Kool Keith & Tom Waits from Fluorescent Hill on Vimeo.
The compositing of 3D characters and 2D detailed illustration is amazing, as is the editing and camera moves. The smoke cloud is a personification of Tom Waits' voice and the spherical character works really well despite his simplicity. The complexity of the detail in the background makes everything feel very lush but throughout it is mainly fairly simple AE layering and camera moves. The pacing and fluidity make the piece what it is and beyond my skill level but there is definitely a lot to take from this in terms of contemporary animation and style. It is aimed obviously at the band's audience but I think this fresh 3D/hand drawn visual would appeal to younger children also as they are so used to a range of media and animation now.