We will begin our review of 2024 by highlighting the four Barclay award winners.
Starting with Nuutti Kataja aka Nacho AI business, who was chosen as the winner for his submission to the TikiKiti International Film Festival (TKIFF). His winning entry is an animation to Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”
Nuutti has created a style of animation using AI that has been copied time and again. From Finland, we first interviewed him in August of last year for our Artist of the Week segment. In this article he told us that it took him 200 hours to create this video. (Note: Nuutti did two videos to this song from Pink Floyd. Here is the first.)
To see what Nuutti and Finland think about the war in Ukraine you just need to see some of his other videos on his YouTube channel — where he calls himself a Freedom Fighter. A common hashtag he adds is #putinsucksballs and #ukraine. Being where Finland is and their history, it is not difficult to see the influence on Nuutti and his work. One of his most surreal videos is "Ashes in the wind." As with "Wish You Were Here" there is a lot images that reflect Finland's history. They are a resilient and determined country with a powerful history. A history Nuutti Kataja illustrates beautifully.
We interviewed Nuutti on December 31 to talk about his work and the Barclay Award. However, the interview took an unexpected turn when he said he would be leaving on Saturday, January 4, as part of the Finnish National Guard being sent to Ukraine as part of a NATO force. He said he would be completely out of touch — no email, no phones, no computers, no contact with the outside world. In this interview he has some very poignant things to say about the way the world is. I thought he should have the last word here.
2024 was also when AI animated music video took on a life of its own. What we have witnessed is a renaissance of this medium — the music video has changed forever. Here are a few of the videos we saw throughout the year.
When we first saw Lamar Lowder's Star Goth his video has zero views. I was fascinated with this video, especially how good the music was. Up until then the quality of AI generated music was unremarkable at best. Here Lowder mixes an 60's icon (the original Star Trek for the uninitiated) with some updated, but retro music.
This was not a one-off video from Lowder. Watching his other videos proves he has a talent for this type of music video — and the music that goes with it.
Another example of AI with good music is from PaulG and the Invisible Twangonauts. As I said before, his style has been copied ad infinitum by so many other animators. The difference is his music.
PaulG is Paul Gibson and I interviewed him in September of 2023. Reading the article you can understand how he invented the Twangonauts and created all the AI art he used for the "invisible" band. "In Cuban Christmas Mystery - Twangonauts Alien Fusion Parade in 1964 Havana" Gibson shows he is able to produce a wide selection of music. And his original music is what sets off his animation from all the other animators we see every day.
It's interesting to note, when I wrote the article it was intended to illustrate how "Now a musician can write the music, professionally record it, upload it so it can be purchased, and market it with a video. All from the comfort of their garage that was converted to a recording studio. We are seeing a lot of these staunchly independent musicians who like being in charge of their careers. Sure, many of them have day jobs, at least for the time being."
This is why we now have a an explosive art scene with the music video at the center.
Another artist we started following is Kelly Boesch Ai Art. Her style is unique and compelling. Here is a sample of recent work of hers:
Our first award of the year went to Bryce Garrett for his video "Too Hip To Retire" by Tim Simonec. Bryce is the youngest music video producer to ever win the Barclay Award. Here is the award winning video:
Since this video he has graduated high school and studying film and television broadcasting at Huntington University. On his YouTube channel you can see most of his recent works. He is working and producing sports documentaries. One example is his "Bring It Home" A Homestead High School Baseball Story. He's also working on a series of how to videos including "How I Filmed a Baseball Documentary" and several reel showcasing his considerable talent. Of note is Drone Reel 2024 and his Photojournalism Reel 2024. But is in his Cinematography Reel 2024 that really shines.
