Welcome, once again, to the off-kilter virtual curiosity shop I like to call Fringe Fridays, our nearly weekly look at animation and experimental web video. I’m excited to see the second episode of Freaky But True’s The Silent But Deadly Service has made its way to our port. There’s just something I like about the flat sitcom-like jokes in conjunction with the crew’s blasé acceptance of their strange underwater existence. And this episode ups both of those factors. If you haven’t seen episode one, you’ll want to click on the second video in the playlist and watch that one first.

Everything from these guys is pretty darn good, just check out the Diabolical Experiments series.

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Team

Today’s Fringe Fridays brings us to a dark and dusty room through the medium of stop-motion animation. The animator definitely owes a debt to such stalwarts as Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay, but he brings something new to genre through his use of television clips. It’s a painstaking process, one that instills the movie with an unsettling atmosphere.

The Room Six O’Clock

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Team

One of my favorite stories as a kid was ‘Peter and the Wolf.’ I had one of those tape-and-book sets of Prokofiev’s masterpiece that I would listen to, and read, over and over again. Twenty-plus years later, I’m pretty excited to catch these sneak-preview/making-of videos for a stop-motion version of the story set to premiere in March, on PBS. It looks marvelous:

Peter:

The Wolf:

Post Production:

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Team

So, maybe the the Super Bowl is all about the ads. Well, the awesome folks at GOOD Magazine have brought us another one of their amazingly great transparencies, this time taking on Sunday’s ad extravaganza. Check out what they have to say about the business of the ‘Bowl. Then tune in to Yahoo! Video beginning Sunday afternoon, for a giant-sized dose of instant commercial replays.

GOOD Magazine: 2008 Super Bowl XLII

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Team

Just what is it that makes something truly worthy of Fringe Fridays? I ask myself that question often (at least weekly, usually on a Thursday). And honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is that the work of Impactist is truly fringe-tastic. Impatctist is the work of husband-and-wife team Kelly Meador and Daniel Elwing. They create commercials and music videos in a striking variety of styles. Check out what they’ve uploaded to us and then check out the amazing volume of work on their website.

First there’s Low-Fidelity Cat Dream, 23 seconds of action-packed animated bliss:

The Type Writer is a beautiful homage to the Remington Steamliner:

Leo’s Song is a tale of music, aliens, and three-dimensional geometry set to music:

I’m really proud to have them on Yahoo! Video. If you like what you see, make sure to rate and review their work by clicking the links above each video. And did I mention the amazing quicktime videos on their website?

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Team

Hello Readers,

Here we are, another Friday, another fringe-y film. When I look for content for Fringe Fridays, I dream of finding something as weird, funny, and well-animated as what I found today. Be warned, my friends, this one is weird. If you’re at all squeamish about bugs, blood, or marital melodrama, you shouldn’t watch it.

Anyone still there? Good!

The Ballad of Mary Slade

I wish I knew more about the animator, Robin Fuller. But the film did win the prestigious Slamdance Film Festival’s prize for animation. And it’s the perfect video for the day before Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday.

-Kent, Yahoo! Video Tea