Motherland

The Killers that were Killed

Lance — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:01:22 +0000

Some unused designs we did for effervescent rockstars The Killers. Yes, we stole from Kandinsky heavily on that last one.

Spider-Woman Motion Comics

Lance — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:21:50 +0000

We were extremely happy to work with Marvel on the Spider-Woman motion comic, Marvel’s first foray into an original motion comics series. If you don’t know who Spider-Woman is she’s NOT the brother of Spider-Man nor his wife. She’s a lady named Jessica Drew born in Britain and raised on a mountaintop by a human-cow hybrid created by the High Evolutionary named Lady Bova. You feel better now don’t you?

Spider-Woman was a 5 episode series that debuted on iTunes at #1 in Animation and #2 in TV Show downloads and was deemed a success. Over an hours worth of animation was created for the series so our After Effects are mighty tired now.

The requisite links:
Watch Spider-Woman on Hulu
Buy Spider-Woman on iTunes
Spider-Woman Mega-Selling Press Release

Client: Marvel Entertainment
Animation & Effects: Motherland
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev

Warriors of Time Music Video

Lance — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:39:01 +0000

Presenting the full music video that we did for the Interscope band Black Tide. Interscope requested that we come up with an iconic character that the band can use a’la Iron Maiden’s Eddie. After slamming our hand in a car door for a couple weeks we fleshed out the character and thus, the Bastard was born and his battle with the Bots has begun.

Director: Lance Sells
Animators: Lance Sells, Matt Burnett
Illustrators: Ray Frenden, Lance Sells, Miguel Rodrigues, Shamus Beyale
Concept Art, Character Design: Matt Burnett, Lance Sells, Miguel Rodrigues
Modeler/Texturer: Lance Sells, Miguel Rodrigues
Production Artist: Miguel Rodrigues
Producer: Andrew Runkle
Music: Black Tide ‘Warriors of Time’
Client: Interscope/Universal

Steaming Hot Reels Straight From The Oven

Lance — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:35:48 +0000

“Our reel is best enjoyed with a steaming cup of raw milk from the teat of a two month old lamb raised in the verdant hills north of champagne in the country of Belgium while you’re wondering what the hell happened in last night’s episode of Lost. Alternatively you can enjoy it at your computer while you’re feeling extra lonely after being denied another Facebook friend request and then noticing your Twitter stream is only being followed by hundreds of spambots trying to sell you something.”

We went DIY style and did most everything ourselves. So instead of printing up a run of 1000 reels that get outdated really quick we’re printing batches of 250 and changing the reels as we go along. We printed the sleeves on a 3M transparency paper on a Canon Pro9000 and used clear slimline DVD cases from DiscMakers. Overall it looks pretty slick. The shittiest thing about it is cutting the letter-sized transparencies to fit into the DVD size inserts. Gotham Black was used for the typeface and since it’s Obama’s typeface for his winning campaign we figured his magic might rub off on us a little.

If you want one of these fancy new things fill out this easy-to-use form or email us at info@motherland.us.

The Dick Covers – Radio Free Albemuth

Lance — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:15:38 +0000

Arbor House, 1986, Book Club Edition

This book was terrifying the first time I read it. Why? It was in 2004 I read it and it’s pretty much a glimpse into the Bush administration and what was happening and what it could have lead to. One of my favorite Dick books of all time.

The cover is from sci-fi artist Ron Walotsky and it’s actually pretty weak compared to a lot of his other work. Here are some other images:

Montage 2009

Lance — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:42:39 +0000

The Motherland Montage 2009 stars our very own handsomely curled Andrew who bookends the entire piece while drinking what may or may not be coffee. Filmed on a Friday afternoon it may very well have been whiskey and orange juice. An office favorite. Music is by the very talented Alan Vega & Martin Rev known formally as Suicide.

Clients included in the Montage include(in order) American Express, Interscope, Black Tide, Crown Royal, VH1, Verdopolis, Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Jeep, FuseTV, New Line Cinema, Born Magazine, Johnnie Walker, Marvel, Stephen King, Microsoft, Zuda Comics, The CW, MTV.

The Dick Covers – Eye in the Sky

Lance — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:33:03 +0000

1975, Ace Books, First Printing

Eight people get trapped in a something-tron accident and they wind up in each other’s heads where that owner’s is essentially a god. Best I can remember. No word on the cover artist besides the initials “JB”.

Here’s another copy I own :

1979, Arrow Books,

I don’t know who did this one either but this one I can figure out with some research.

The Dick Covers – The Transmigration of Timothy Archer

Lance — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:49:48 +0000

Timescape, 1982 First Edition Hardcover

This book took me a couple tries to make it through as I found it a bit dull at the beginning and even after finishing it wasn’t all that excited but the strange thing is the story is one that I vividly remember more than some of Dick’s other works. Must be my love of depressing stories of suicide and adultery.

Cover painting is by Richard Powers who was a superb science fiction surrealist artist. His work is definitely worth searching for. There’s a book of his work that might be out of print but thanks to the tubes you should be able to find it somewhere. Here’s another one of his paintings :

The Dick Covers – Ubik

Lance — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:37:31 +0000

Doubleday, 1969, First Edition

A time-traveling absurd novel with a lovely Peter Rauch cover. Don’t know who Peter Rauch is? I don’t either and you may think the cover is pretty hideous but let it simmer for awhile and see if that stretched Cooper Black doesn’t get your blood moving. Actually the greatest thing about this very plain cover is the profile of a man’s face in the spray. Hard to see thanks to my damaged copy but it’s there and it’s beautiful.

The Dick Covers – We Can Build You

Lance — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:15:52 +0000

Daw Books, 1972, Printed from magazines in 1969 and 1970
A tale set in the far future world of 1981 dealing with simulacra gone wild. Anything with the words “Man Factory” on the cover has me interested from the get go. Art by the prolific illustrator John Schoenherr. Others in the studio disagree with me but I think it’s a poor cover and you’ll find he’s done much better work over the course of his career.