Amazing Christmas Light Show 2014

Just enjoy it for what it is. The most Amazing Christmas light setup.

This amazing christmas light show was done to the theme of Star Wars. The sequencing and creativity is the best I’ve seen. The instruments are actually playing real notes. The owner of this lovely home is a music teacher and a bay area native.

Sequenced with LOR, sound mixed via Digital Performer, filmed with a 35′ lift, this behemoth setup runs around 100,000 lights.

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  • What did you think?
  • Any other ones you’ve seen that match this quality?

List of Tracks in Order:

“Star Wars Main Title and the Arrival at Naboo” – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

“Duel of the Fates” – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

“Across the Stars (Love Theme)” – Star Wars Episode II – The Phantom Menace

“Battle of the Heroes” – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Light Saber Fight)

“The Hologram; Binary Sunset” – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

“Cantina Band” – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

“Ben Kenobi’s Death/TIE Fighter Attack” – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (TIE Fighter Crash)

“The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)” – Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

“Victory Celebration, End Title” – Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

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Life Before and After Mobile Phones – Illustration

Before and After Mobile Phones

I remember a time when there were no mobile phones (I am dating myself aren’t I?).
I remember I knew my friends numbers by heart. I remember having to meet up with them to play.

Times have changed. Soon after mobile phones became mainstream, so much of how we interact with others have changed. For better or worse?

Enjoy this hilarious series of Before and After Cellphone illustrations by 20px.com.

Which ones do you relate to? Tell us in the comments!

Before & After Cellphones

Before & After Cell Phone - Friends

Before & After Cellphones - Phone Numbers

Before & After Cellphones - Calling

Before & After Cellphones - Rides

Before & After Cell Phones - Waiting

[poll id=”38″]

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Five Rules to Design Like Apple [Video]

5 Rules for Designing from the men behind Apple’s biggest design decisions

In 2012, the newest ipad sold at a rate of 694 ipads per minute during the 1st 72 hours.

ipad mini image appleCan you imagine creating a product that people would purchase at such an amazing rate?

If you sold 694 of whatever you invented TOTAL, that would be a feat in itself, but per MINUTE? Amazing. But the answer is not as simple as copying Apple’s designs. They are able to do what they do because of deeply embedded philosophies of design pushed down by the design leaders of Apple, Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive.

Apple is able to do this because of their famous ability to create products that are not only aesthetically pleasing but easy to use. Below is a fun video talking about 5 rules of design derived from the philosophies of the leaders of Apple.

“For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic the quality has to be carried all the way through” – Steve Jobs

RULE #1 – Don’t Skimp on Anything

Don’t skimp on sections of design just because they aren’t in the customers main line of sight
– High quality design is all encompassing

RULE #2 – Everyone must understand the Product

Every employee in the company must truly understand what the product they are building is, how it works, and how it will benefit customers or society in order to get the design just right.

“It is so important to be light on your feet, inquisitive and interested in being wrong” – Jonathan Ive

RULE #3 – Motivated by Failure & Optimistic about Change

Good design is produced by people who are motivated by failures and optimistic about change.

– Focus and simplicity – Steve Jobs Mantra

RULE #4 – Simple, Beautiful over Bells & Whistles

It’s harder to design something that is simply beautiful than it is to just stuff a product full of bells and whistles. But the marketplace is looking for clean, flawless, and operational design.

Our products are tools and we don’t want design to get in the way – Jonathan Ive

RULE #5 – Quality Product over Flash

Product design isn’t meant to stick out like a sore thumb, but rather a high quality product, people come to recognize as an extension of themselves.

  • What do you like best about apple’s product designs? Looks? Ease of use? Quality?
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Top 10 Creative iPhone 5 Design Mockups

Most Creative iPhone 5 Design Mockups from around the Web

Here at Clean Cut Media, we love good art, good design, and awesome display of creativity. We’ve posted great 3D Chalk Art, Photography, Short Films and even good clean Commercials.

Apple has always been a leader in design and usability. As each new product nears it’s launch period, numerous design mockups and speculations start to appear around the web. The iPhone 5 is nearing it’s speculated launch date. See below some of the excellent mockups  “guessing” what Apple might do. I’ve ranked 10 different designs in my own personal top 10 based on 3 factors.

| creativity | realistic | awesomeness

How would you rank them?

#10 – The iPhone – Ciccarese

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - Ciccarese Design
My first thought was, wow very creative. It’s kind of, cute. Points for creativity. However this doesn’t seem like a next generation phone, rather just a copy of the mighty mouse. I believe this might have been mocked for a previous iphone release as well – thus the small screen. Clever though!

#9 – The iPhone – ADR

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - The New iPhone ADR
This phone is interesting. Love the huge screen. Give some creative points for the unique back and even having the home screen button being part of the touch interface. However the back is a bit awkward and the phone itself just screams droid.. or android.. as it mimics current designs.

#8 – The iPhone – LM

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - LM

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - LM 2

The iPhone LM is simple, beautiful and very realistic. If the next iPhone looked like this – it would seem realistic wouldn’t it? Sleek, more professional, and a wider screen. Apple are masters at making small tweaks that quickly makes older phone seem old and obsolete. Well Done. Realistic Points off the charts.

#7 – The iPhone – Full Screen

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - Full Screen

Simple and realistic. Having the screen reach end to end gives it a simple but unique difference from previous generations and helps it stand above the crowd. Also super thin. Nothing fancy here.

#6 – The iPhone – Full Screen Tempered

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - Tempered Edge

Same Idea but with tempered edges and no home button. The tempered edges helps distinguish the newer iPhone a little bit more without making huge adjustments.

#5 – The iPhone Pro Care – Bend it

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - iPhone Concept Bend

This certainly won’t happen for the iPhone 5. Awesome points yes! Creativity points yes! Realistic points negative! It seems awesome and cool but two problems. First the technology at the right price is just not there to produce something that will match Apple’s desired quality of execution. Secondly, people just aren’t ready for something like this. It’s a bit too novel especially the way it bends and how you would feel holding it in your hands. But very creative indeed.

#4 – The iPhone Plus

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - iPhone Plus

This design is simple. Bigger screen, thinner body, make it look sleek. It’s a great design and the thinness looks awesome. The problem? It better be made of the toughest material in the world because I would be afraid to break it in half accidentally.

#3 – The iPhone Pro

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - iPhone Pro

Ah yes. I am a big fan of the dark grey metallic back. It adds a touch that says this is the next generation and helps distinguish itself from past models. Very professional. I believe this mockup is for a phone that is significantly larger though, thus the icons are small, but you get the idea.

#2 – The Tear Drop iPhone

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - Tear Drop

Bonus creative points because of the unique teardrop shape as well as a stab at a different interface that just works. It looks very professional and simple. It has that “oomph” factor that makes previous iPhone seem obsolete and old. I love the switch to the dark metallic grey. I like that it is still very similar to the old design, but has that updated feel. I also love the idea of using that extra screen space for something other than just another row of apps. I’ll take it!

#1 – Iphone by Rames Studios

iPhone 5 Design Mockup - Rames Studios

It was a close race between #1 & #2, but more creative bonus points here for a completely new design and thinking through the specs including a 64gig flash drive and removable battery. Those specs alone would cause many to upgrade. The design isn’t revolutionary as the block look is already popular, but it is done in a simple, clean way. Great job!

Which One is Your Favorite?

  • Let us know in comments your thoughts on each of the designs! Like it? Hate it? 
  • How would you rank them?
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20 Amazing Cinemagraph Photography

What is Cinemagraph Photography?

Cinemagraph are photograph stills where a small portion of the photo is animated. The term cinemagraph was first coined by photographers Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck.

Cinemagraphs were created by combining a video recording a series of photographs. Using photo editing software such as adobe photoshop, the section to be animated is “masked” into the still photo. In other words, just to make a complicated thing sound simple, you are seeing a small snippet of looped video laid on top of a photo. This allows you to create some fanscinating and amazing photos. Some are beautiful like a person sitting on a beach with the waters sparkling. Some are straight up scary, where eye balls suddenly move or some something unexpected moves in the photo.

Cinemagraphs are more startling when the photo is clearly a still (depicted by something that is normally moving that is frozen) while another portion that should be still has subtle movements.

See some great examples from around the web below:
Sorry, couldn’t figure out the source as these photos are everywhere.

VOTE BELOW FOR YOUR FAVORITE
Let us know what you think of this new Cinemagraph style!

21 Amazing Cinemagraph Photography to Blow Your Mind

Cinemagraph – Beautiful Beach Ocean

Cinemagraphs - Beach
Cinemagraphs – Beautiful Beach Ocean

Cinemagraph – Sizzling Bacon

Cinemagraphs - Bacon Sizzle
Cinemagraphs – Bacon Sizzle – My Kind of Photography!

Cinemagraph – Birthday Candles

Cinemagraphs - Candles
Cinemagraphs – Candles

Cinemagraph – Newspaper Reading at Park

Cinemagraph - Newspaper Reading at Park
This One Blew Me Away! Stunning Cinemagraph.

Cinemagraph – Cat Ears

Cinemagraph - Cat Ears
Cinemagraph – Cat Ears Wiggle

Cinemagraph – Coffee Latte Stir

Cinemagraph - Coffee Latte Stir
Cinemagraph – Coffee Latte Stir

Cinemagraph – Dr Strangelove Facial Expression

Cinemagraph - Dr Strangelove Facial Expression
Dr Strangelove Facial Expression – Hilarious!

Cinemagraph – Expresso Coffee Machine

Cinemagraph - Expresso Coffee Machine
Never thought, staring at an Expresso Coffee Machine was so Fascinating

Cinemagraph – Scary Moving Eyes

Cinemagraphs - Moving Eyes
Moving Eyes – Like a Bad Horror Film

Cinemagraph – Time Watch

Cinemagraph - Time Watch
Hey I Remember when Those Watches Were Popular!.. did i just date myself?

Cinemagraph – Windy Clothes

Cinemagraph - Windy Clothes
A Slight Breeze. Very Harry Potter Like

Cinemagraph – Fresh Tomatoes on Vine

Cinemagraph - Fresh Tomatoes on Vine
What I Would do to Bite into those Tomatoes (w/ some sugar)

Cinemagraph – Wine Pouring

Cinemagraph - Wine Pouring
Cinemagraph – Never Ending Wine

Cinemagraph – Freaky Shining

Cinemagraphs - Freaky Shining
Speaking of Freaky – Shining?

Cinemagraph – Hot Dog Stand

Cinemagraph - Hot Dog Stand
Cinemagraph – Hot Dog Stand – Mmm Hungry

Cinemagraph – Ketchup Bottle

Cinemagraph - Ketchup Bottle
Cinemagraph – Ketchup Bottle for that Hot Dog Above!

Cinemagraph – Pigeon Hangout

Cinemagraph - Pigeon Hangout
Cinemagraph – Pigeon Hangout

Cinemagraph – Picture Model

Cinemagraphs - Picture Model
Cinemagraphs is the Most Popular in the Fashion Industry

Cinemagraph – Scary Models

Honestly, I find these Model shots Absolutely Frightening

Cinemagraph – Scary Movie

Cinemagraphs - Scary Movie
Another Clip from some Scary Movie I’d Never Watch

POLL: Which Cinemagraphs were your Favorites! [Pick up to 3]

[poll id=”31″]

 

Cinemagraph App on App Store

Cinemagram LogoThere is an App called Cinemagram that makes it easy to do this on your phone!
Button below should take you to the Cinemagram App:
Cinemagram - Factyle

Cinemagraph Tutorial Video

For those who are too curious and want to know. You can watch this video. Warning: Not for the technically impaired. Those of you impaired should just get the Cinemagram App.

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We Don’t Copy Apple’s iPhone & iPad Designs!

The Impact of iPhone’s Design on the Mobile Phones

Sometimes pictures speak louder than words. It was not that long ago that you could walk into a “cellphone” store and find some hundred varieties of phones that all looked completely different. Flip phones, slide out phones, long keyboards, no keyboards and so on. Apple has already disrupted the computer industry, the music industry, mobile industry and perhaps soon the TV industry, but in doing so, they have also become a leader in design. Mobile phone designs are becoming homogeneous because every phone needs to be able to accomodate whatever features Apple popularized on their own phones and tablets (touchscreen, sliding gestures, on screen keyboards, web browsing etc). See for yourself. Check out these images circulating around the internet.

Iphone Design - Before & After

Influence of iPad’s Design on Tablets

iPad Tablet Design - Before & After

  • What is your opinion? Is it legitimate to say Apple is the leading designer in these categories?
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Twitter used by our Founding Fathers [Comic]

Twitter used by our Founding Fathers?

I saw this comic, and thought it was pretty darn hilarious. These kind of comics use a lot of exaggeration in terms of social media use, but in it’s own way captures some of the downside of social media use as well.

Proper citations! This comic was illustrated by Kiersten Essenpreis, a New York-based artist. Obviously was written for Mashable which has a series of these kind of comics. This one happened to be the funniest. Great job Kiersten. Look forward to more!

By the way Clean Cut Media has it’s own twitter account, follow us! ==

Twitter Comic Founding Fathers

  • Let us know if you found that funny!
  • Then visit some of other funny twitter video links below!
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Cool Google vs. Opera Speed Test Videos

Google Chrome Speed Video Paint

Google Chrome Speed Test Videos in Slow Motion

Couple weeks ago, Google came out with a video that demonstrates the speed of it’s latest Chrome web browser. Why is it posted here on Clean Cut Media? Because we like to highlight videos that are well-made or are just simply clever. It needs to be Clean Cut of course. 🙂

In case anyone is interested. Google Chrome uses a JavaScript engines called V8 that is extremely fast. This new beta is reported to be about 35% faster than the previous. The previous in my experience is easily the faster browser out there, followed by Safari, then Firefox. I don’t even bother with Internet Explorer – it’s unbelievably slow.

Google Chrome – Speed Test Video

Opera’s Spoof

Always smart to let a competitor spend a lot of money on promotion, then piggyback off of it by making fun of it or challenging it.

Also I always tell people how hilarious it would be to suddenly slap someone with a fish. Yes!

Making Of Google Speed Test

For you film geeks. Fun stuff.

  • 2700 frames per second
  • Pyrotechnics Expert
  • Ballistics Expert

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The Short Film List – Distraxion, Signs, Black Holes & Kiwis

Short Film - Distraxion, The Black Hole, Kiwi

Short Videos & Short Films

All the recent posts have been about heavy topics, so here is a breather both for the artists out there as well as the casual video viewer. I’ve put together links to a few well made (and of course Clean Cut) short videos & short films. I’ve only included ones you may have not seen. So no pixar shorts!

Short videos are very difficult to create because the producer needs to sum up a quick story within a very short time frame usually around 1:30-2 minutes. Short films can range anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. To develop a story, create the right mood and have character development in such a short period takes much planning and creativity. Below are some of the excellent short films & videos I’ve ran across in the past.

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15 Beautiful HDR Photography Art

What is HDR Photography?

By Paul Lee

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. The purpose is to extend the dynamic range of digital imaging technologies. What does that mean? It means the range of color and what is visible to the normal eye is shown and mixed together using a variety of exposure shots. As a result you get beautiful pictures with very fine detail top to bottom, normally unseen through normal photography techniques.

We will post an explanation and tutorial on HDR photography on a later post! For now enjoy these 15 Beautiful HDR photos. Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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3D Chalk Art in the Streets Part III – Julian Beever

The users here at Clean Cut Media really enjoyed looking at the 3D Chalk Art postings in the past. Here is the 3rd installment of these wonderful 3D Chalk Art. These 3D artworks are amazing. Check them out. If you missed on the first two installements the links are at the bottom!

3D Chalk Art Butterfly by Julian Beever

By Paul Lee

Simply amazing. How is that not real. I imagine myself sliding my hands beneath the butterfly to see if it is really afloat.

3D Chalk Art Butterfly
3D Chalk Art Butterfly

3D Chalk Art – Waterfall by Julian Beever at Madrid

If I was walking by and saw this waterfall I would be instantly drawn in and delighted to discover it is actually a piece of art. Think about the careful angle calculations that were involved in making this happen.

3D Chalk Art - Waterfall by Julian Beever at Madrid
3D Chalk Art - Waterfall by Julian Beever at Madrid

3D Chalk Art – Laptop – Julian Beever

I can imagine someone trying to steal this laptop when no one is looking, only to discover how foolish they look.

3D Chalk Art - Laptop - Julian Beever
3D Chalk Art - Laptop - Julian Beever

3D Chalk Art – Mirror Image

Here Julian Beever actually draws himself. Which one is the real one? Well it’s easy to tell, none the less pretty amazing. Reminds me of that one music video “take on me” where half of the video was in drawn format.

3D Chalk Art - Mirror Image
3D Chalk Art - Mirror Image

3D Chalk Art – Hole of the Dead

Don’t want to be walking next to this hole in the ground. Scary stuff. They should have a real person lie there and grab people as they walk by. Excellent…

This piece is by Kurt Wenner. Some info relayed by one of our readers. (thanks Ann!)

“Kurt is an American-born artist who spent time studying and training in the methods of classical Italian art, which can be seen in the style of his drawings. As a result I think his style is appreciably different from Beever’s.”

3D Chalk Art - Hole of the Dead
3D Chalk Art - Hole of the Dead

Julian Beever at Copenhagen – 3D Chalk Art

Julian Beever is way to lose to the edge! I hope he didn’t fall over and hurt himself! Amazing he can draw from so far up!

Julian Beever at Copenhagen

Enjoy those?

Check out the previous installments here!

Which one is your favorite? Let us know below! Don’t be a lurker now…

Follow Clean Cut Media @CleanCutMedia Twitter!

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Love Story Meets Viva La Vida by Jon Schimdt – Beautiful Music

For those new to Clean Cut Media, here we like to post not only the latest news and commentary on media influence and social issues, but also post wonderful pieces of art and media that are clean and well done. Occasionally we also post videos that went viral so we could be a source in which to keep up with the latest viral video.

See this beautiful piece of music below. If you appreciate music, it will knock your socks off. Such a beautiful things to hear.

Love Story (Taylor Swift) Meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

Piano: Jon Schimdt
Cellist: Steven Nelson (cellist)

This arrangement was created by Jon Schimdt’s for his daughter. His daughter loved the song “Love Story” by Taylor Swift especially a particular transition in the song. Jon Schimdt thought it would transition really well with Viva La Vida by Coldplay so he created this arrangement.

Oren Lavie – Her Morning Elegance

From the album “The Opposite Side of the Sea”, released in March 2009. This song is titled “Her Morning Elegance”. This video is a very artistic use of stop motion utilizing a bed as the frame and bed items as the everyday object. Just play the video below and see what I mean.

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