SPENELO

THIS IS NO LONGER MY MAIN BLOG

2011-02-15T08:40:00.000+02:00

Spenelo's graphics showreel '10

2010-11-19T15:55:00.002+02:00

My reel for 2010!

Mr Platonic

2010-05-26T09:03:00.002+02:00

A video for MR PLATONIC

will be uploading some behind-the-scenes videos soon. Lotsa work went into this, and it was made on a pc that REALLY struggled to handle the HD (1920x1080)footage. At the end of the day, I had to render the final animation out in half HD (1280x720) coz there's NO WAY I'd be able to upload an full HD video onto YouTube from South Africa, and I would have struggled to much if I had to work in that resolution. I was working in less-than-quarter res all the time. Anyway, enjoy!

MY 5 ULTIMATE BEST SONGS OF ALL TIME.

2010-03-26T11:34:00.004+02:00

I've been meaning to share this for a while now, these are my 5 ULTIMATE BEST SONGS OF ALL TIME. The top three WILL NEVER CHANGE. But the bottom two, there are so many others, that I like too, depending on my mood, might have a chance of cracking the nod, but anyhoo, here goes.

#5 When you think of me - Eric Benet

An intense song about how leaving someone for the wrong reasons can blow up in your face, once that person is finally successful, the soulful delivery is just AMAZING from one of my favourite vocal talents, Mr Benet.

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#4 Missing - Everything but the Girl

One of the coolest songs ever, the original is beautiful, but this version is the one I looooove. A mellow voice, with a catchy-but-not-commercial set of lyrics, it is relevant in any decade.

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#3 Unbreak my Heart - Toni Braxton

In her heyday, Toni delivered hits like Scooters on a friday night; steamy, tasty, and hot! But this one is so intense, her heart-wrenching lamentation for her lover to return to her, o my pepperoni, it still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it. (the original video didn't want to embed, so I had to use this one!)

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#2 Kissed by a Rose - Seal

This song's overall construction and layout is the best I've ever heard. The harmony of the vocals, the range of instruments and how everything blends in is simply awesome. A joy to listen to everytime, and I learn something new from it everytime.

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#1 Kissing a Fool - George Michael

From one of the most talented overall musicians on the freakin planet, comes the best song ever in the universe of space. An wonderfully calm, and relaxing rendition of the music by both the instruments and the vocalist, this song is just dripping with hints of melancholic genius and is the ultimate bittersweet song, ever. Every time it gets to the bridge I just feel like walking to the nearest hot girl and going down on one knee and singing to her, lol. Did I mention that this song is awesome?

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New stuff!

2010-03-26T11:26:00.001+02:00

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12 THINGS NOT TO SEARCH FOR ON GOOGLE WITH SAFE SEARCH OFF!

2010-03-01T09:53:00.000+02:00

Bafana Bafana discussion

2010-02-04T15:14:00.001+02:00

New vids!

2010-01-22T11:13:00.003+02:00

To listen to my music, joine my fb page here>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A studio session and a review! WATCH AND SHARE PLEASE!

Christmas Random Arbjects and QUICKIES

2009-12-22T15:12:00.003+02:00

RANDOM ARBJECTS!!

2009-12-10T14:28:00.004+02:00

Episode one: National Anthem

Spenelo's graphics showreel 09

2009-12-02T09:12:00.001+02:00

A showreel of my work in 2009, displaying work I done for work, and some of my own things as well.

Music is Looking For Love (mix) - by me. :D

Don't forget to join my facebook fanpage, over there>>>>>>

Showreel 09 from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

LOOKING FOR LOVE explanation.

2009-11-06T15:17:00.002+02:00

JOIN my page to listen to the song,

'Looking for Love' >>>>>>>>>

LOOKING FOR LOVE

2009-10-26T13:54:00.004+02:00

My new song, LOOKING FOR LOVE, is now on my facebook!

Go the page here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Listen to the song, and join my page if you like what you hear. :D

Please note that the song was written, produced, composed, arranged, and performed by me. Any plagiarists out there should take note that this song is copyrighted.

Mobile Music video

2009-10-16T14:27:00.002+02:00

Hey guys, so I tried to convert Don't Leave Me for mobile format to watch on your phone.

It's a 9mb mp4. Download from the link and take it from your pc to your phone. Tell me if the quality is good enough, or if you have any problems. :)

DON'T LEAVE ME - SPENELO_mobile_mpeg4_001.mp4

Free file hosting from File Den

Don't Leave Me

2009-10-05T22:49:00.014+02:00

Don't Leave Me - Spenelo from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

When the idea for turning this song into a video came to me, I was still in a very negative mindset. Trying to do everything on my own, shy to try new things, afraid to really go for the things I need. BUt somewhere along the way, I found some divine intervention, and since July I've been living a totally revamped life, powered by God, unashamed of my talents, not scared to go for my dreams, patient in my endeavours, gracious in failure, taking the most out of them, heeding the advice from those who have been there before, sharing my new ideas with them, and striving to be the best no matter what negative people say, and trust me, there will ALWAYS be a few of them out there.

I first tried to make this all graphics, a video living on the pages of a sketch book (which is ironic, because I'm not exactly Picasso when it comes to drawings)

This idea went through some changes, but then got thrown out the window.

I tried a few ideas after that:

But after that I settled upon this storyboard.

http://spenelo.deviantart.com/art/DLM-story-board-rough-139376881

And made a professional version there of

http://spenelo.deviantart.com/art/DLM-story-board-139376673

After that we shot it on RED camera, in a green room, then the footage was keyed out, after being edited into the sequenced edit.

For example, in this scene, the cafe scene, I had to create a cafe background. So after keying out the green, I created the cafe itself in 3d, then added some chairs, then the park background, then comped everything together and color graded it. That's pretty much the process I had to do for all the comps. Although, this was the only place where external 3d was used, it was all 2d for the rest of it.

Confessions of a Forgotten Undiscovered Poet

2009-09-07T12:15:00.001+02:00

Paging through my books of old
I sit in pure astonishment
The rhymes are fresh, funky and bold
shedding light on wonderful stories untold

I always knew that I was weird
And always wondered why
On top of that I made a discovery
Uncovering something I feared

The person I was in younger years
Was so most uncool
I was a nerdy loser with no real peers
An incompetent, whimsical fool

Fearing female fancies as if they were fatal
Damn! How things have changed

From hard-working, but deserted
To firmly asserted
To drunk and perverted
To corruptly converted

Learning about God's heavenly nation
But eventually falling prey to
lust, porn and masturbation

Serving and talking to God all the time
But concurrently admiring every scorching hot Delilah
Observing every angle so much so
That it could be a crime

Skating thinly on the ice of intellectuality
Cramming in material a night before the crunch
Then during the battle I realize the reality
Of my frivolity, I feel the punch

I learn it over and over and over again
A truth that always makes sense
That to pass any test in life you have to toil and persist
Or else you'll drown in the faeces of your own incompetence

That statement might be stinky and squalid
I know
But our society we are living in
Is too

Ethical plaque, moral decay
Hurting each other everyday
Is now common-place and the norm
We see it in how our world leaders perform

Scorn, hatred, nuclear weapons, power, oil, jealousy
Invading each other's countries
In 'the name of good'
Asking for World War 3

These problems and many more
Like natural disasters, tyranny, rumours of war
Will just escalate breaking many hopes
Families, cities, institutions, foundations, connecting ropes.

I'm bewildered.
How does this world even cope?

A moral degeneration
Clashing with a population infestation
Leaving me in mental constipation
Of what my task is

What is my vocation?

My place, my home
Where do I belong?
Earth, heaven, hell?
Because many times I've been in the wrong

Just existing
Not persisting
In standing for what I believe in

Being Luke warm
Medium rare
Falling, backsliding
Not bothering to care

That my thoughts consist of malevolence and carnality
Falling prey
Day by day
To a temptational felony

But there's no time to be so pessimistic
Hardships have come, hardships have gone
I just can't be fatalistic
I have to complete life's labyrinth song

I will definitely change my ways
That I won't deny
But now, due to my ledless pencil, my story has seen its last phase
Because if I spoke anymore, maybe in jail my ass would fry!

The love of. . .

2009-07-31T15:00:00.001+02:00

We hear so many cliche's of MONEY all the time. Root of all evil this, makes the world go round that. Money is the main problem of this wretched world, the lust there of, the desire to be adorned with material riches and wealth is a driving force for many to succeed, but the failure to do so is also a melancholic stress enhancer for some who can't seem to get out of the rut they find themselves in.

Money itself is not evil. It's just paper (or cotton/linen whatever it's made out of), but these flimsy wafts of greed drive us to many extremes, just to get our hands on it. It gets in between family members, like when a old relative dies, and everybody wants a piece of the boodle, sometimes fueling fueds that last for decades. It creates rifts in friendships, when friends lend it to each other, sometimes never returning it, and in doing this, loosing a friend because trust is broken. It instigates greed, when people will try any and every way to try to increase their earnings, whether it be legal or illegal, not caring about the people that they harm in the process. Prejudice thrives because of it, as long as there are rich and poor, there will always be prejudices, above and beyond racism and xenophobia. If people have a lot of it, or even just more than someone suffering without it, they almost always have a condescending attitude to those that don't have money or who are poor.

Like one time my mom and I were chilling at Milky Lane, when we heard a girl behind us, who just finished her cone, her mom wanted to throw away her serviettethat had the Milky Lane logo on it, but she remonstrated and said, 'NEE Mummy, wag, ek wil dié saam my vat oppie trein, sodat almal kan sien ek was by Milky Lane!' Riiiiiight. . .moving on. . .

It drives people who have low will power (sometimes even the strongest mental strength can be broken down by stress and abject failures and disappointments, but it's still no excuse) and who have been guttered and batterred by life, and are stressing about where to get money from, to alcohol abuse or drug abuse, which ironically degenerates their lives further, rather than improving it. (duh) The allure of wealth and material things sometimes incites lustful goldiggers (from either sex) to leave ones they're with, instead opting for flashiness and money instead of comfort and love.

I don't even think I need to say anything about the collosal effect money has on the mind of people who become miscreants and criminals, who will kill, abuse and assault, steal and rob to get what they believe they need to get to fulfill their selfish desires. Then there are those that covet and envy those that are better off than them, leering at them begrudgingly, sometimes even avariciously, desperately wanting what they want, feeling indignant, accusing them of not deserving their happiness, when they don't even know the person properly, or what they've been through to get what they have. Even if it seems like that person does not deserve what he has, who are you to judge? Stop being obtuse about life, stop being angry, stop being melancholic, try to stop being frustrated, no matter how irritating your circumstances are. Improve yourself, work hard, persevere in this, and then you won't need to complain, because good things come to those who work their asses off.

Just imagine, a world where money, wealth and riches are NOT a factor. A world with no NO MONEY. I'm not saying ALL problems will be solved by a moneyless world, I'm just saying that is surely will be a better place to live in.

Just imagine these scenarios, no matter how farfetched they are.

If aliens, filled with sanguinary fury for the human race unleash a pernicious attack on Earth, killing us left right and centre with amino acid-based gravatationally-interdimensional plasma cannons that blast each and every of our pathetic little cells into another universe, do you think your money will save you? Do you think the richest person on Earth will be spared? That he can strike a deal with the alien ambassador with his millions? Nope. His money is worthless. And he'll be bludgeoned like the rest of us.

If you die and go straight to the gates of hell, because your life was life lived with malice, backstabbing and filth, do you think you can coerce good ol Lucifer to send you to Utopian bliss by giving him a fat suitcase of goldbars and diamonds? He'll probably send you straight to the edge of heaven, let you see what you're gonna miss and hurl you straight to where you belong; the Valley of Fire and Brimstone filled with the wails of those who were impetuous and stupid, just like you.

Money is not valuable. It might be to our society now, but then again, the things we value are dumb. There are much stronger things that the human race totally neglects, that are way more powerful than money, and that wealth will never be able to buy, because the best things in life come from within, and not from a Gucci bag.

We're so used to it, that it's hard to see it in any other light. We see wealth as an indicator of achievement, accomplishment, experience, talent, hard work, etc, but just think about it, a world where there is no money, no greed or backstabing. A world where intelligent bartering would be the norm, and no money would have to be exchanged, ever, it would be peaceful, world leaders and the super rich bankers would have no hold on the denizens of the world, there'd be no debt, no interest and depreciation, nothing! No using of oil as a trump card or a ticket to start wars. There'd be no more striking, because there is NO money to worry about! No discrimination between rich and poor. Just think of the advances in technology we'd be able to achieve, if it didn't cost billions upon billions of dollars to build things, we could build marvelous machines, enormous buildings housing thousands, creative inventions that will revolutionize the way we live and think! No wonder other intelliegent life doesn't even glance our way, their intelligence and technology is not driven by profits and losses, but by making their world a better place to live in peacefully. we claim to be intelligent, but show our ignorance by thinking the way we do.

I know we'll have to change our ways of thinking, and that a lot of people WON'T be able to even think so ebulliently or live that way, but it's worth a try. (heck, even I will struggle to not want to be well off and secure my future for my kids, etc, because that's how we grow up, it's programmed into us, but I digress)

This is my hope for the future, that in the next 100 years we'll be able to carve out such a world.

Love Lockdown Remix

2009-05-19T14:31:00.004+02:00

Here's the mp3:
Kanye West ft Spenelo - Love Lockdown (Icy Dreams Mix).mp3

A remix I done of Kanye West's Love Lockdown.

South Africa's Problem

2009-04-17T18:44:00.002+02:00

What I think South Africa's problem is.

Vimeo HQ version:

South Africa's problem from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

Youtube version(lower res):

Tell me whatcha think. :)

Election babble.

2009-04-11T22:00:00.004+02:00

Watch me break down the 8 parties, detailing their brief history, what they stand for, and what they promise.

I've been rather quiet. . .

2009-03-29T12:20:00.001+02:00

So, I haven't posted anything in a long time. . .my bad.

Good news is, I'm working on several things, so when the posting starts, it'll flow!!

Currently working on a music video for one of my songs, but before that I want to make a clip guiding young voters through the upcoming elections. So. Stay tuned.

;-)

My work showreel 08

2008-12-24T11:09:00.002+02:00

Work Showreel 08 - Spenelo from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

Enjoy! This is some of the work I done this year at LibraVision. Hope 09 is filled with many many more great projects! Music by moir too! ^_^

REVENGE OF THE GNAT (MUST DRINK MORE MILK)

2008-12-17T12:18:00.007+02:00

IT's finally done! My entry for mustdrinkmoremilk.com .

The concept for this has been in my head for like forever. 'Why do gnats keep flying into my eyes?!' I walk a lot. Cycle sometimes. And always, at the last moment, when it's to late to turn away, a gnat or other insect kamikazes into my eyes! So a couple months ago, I storyboarded 'the bad deed', why, perhaps, gnats hate me so, just three frames though. It remained that way for quite a while, although I played out the scenes in my head constantly, until I stubled upon the MUSTDRINKMOREMILK competition. It got me fired up and got my creative juices flowing, and now a couple of months later, IT'S FINISHED!

I tried to combine 3d elements (the characters) with 'live action' to get a mixed feel to this short. And of all my youtube endeavours, this is by far the best!

ALTHOUGH

there are a few glitches here and there, but the competition is nearly closed! So I had to motor a bit towards the end. This previous weekend I practically didn't sleep, took my work's box home, and worked like whole weekend to finish this baby off! Enough talking, I'll probably edit this post with more details later, but for now, enjoy!

Credits: Modelling, texturing, rigging, enveloping, animation, scenery, lipsyncing, camerawork, sound, music, voices, actor, editing, compositing: MEEEEEEE!! Lol.

NEWS NOW!!!

2008-10-09T12:11:00.005+02:00

My new clip! Called News Now! It's about how I feel about the whole political hoo hah happening in South Africa. . .

A few people asked me how I got the background out? Simple. Green screen. But I don't have one you say. You would be right. I made a plan. Got a plain bright lime green bed sheet, put it on my mattress, and lifted my mattress vertically!

I struggled to key out some parts of the background, and you can see some of the edges going a bit haywire, but hey, it came out nice!

Watch this space for moar stuffz!!!

Thanks for viewing. ☻

Music Video for Stereo Republic

2008-09-16T13:35:00.003+02:00

This is a music video I done for the up and coming band Stereo Republic. I started this project in March, but due to many reasons, I only finished it recently. It's the longest video I've ever done so far 4:00 and it was good practice in general editing and animation, and will help me with my future music/graphic endeavours. It shows that even though you might not have all the resources needed, you can still pull off a good project.

The video is video game themed. So what I done was used a simple toony style for the world and characters, combine four different genres and lace them all together with a nice generic game story line, which is. . .all the girls in the world are kidnapped by an evil bad guy, aptly named 'Villain Man', he takes them to his evil island, where he holds them captive, with who knows what in mind. It's down to the four heroes of Stereo Republic to save all the girls, and save the world!

In the first part, Soul must lead the team over a hazardous ocean filled with enemy planes and a the evil boss submarine (in the form of an aerial shooter game platform) to take the team to the verge of Forbidden Island. After that, Tuna must climb the scaly heights of Forbidden Island's entrance, and beat off the malicious blobs, to find the key that will lead the team into Forbidden Island. (in the form of a flat Mario-esque game platform) Then K must delve down deep into Forbidden Island on his board and dodge more blobs, to lead the team to Villain Man's secret lair. (In the form of an early 3d rpg game, much like Crash Bandicoot or Mario Kart) Then, in the final showdown, Marshall has to face the sinister Villain Man, in the battle to end all battles, to free the prisoners of the island, who stand watching and rooting for Marshall to win. (in the form of an early combat game, such as Tekken) Which, he does, and he sets free all the girls, thus saving the world, and banishes the malevolent Villain Man to a fiery doom. . .

That's the story in a nutshell. . .

I'll add some workflow images later, for now, enjoy the video, as per usual, hi res version of vimeo, and the fast-streaming youtube version

All the girls - Stereo republic from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

RESPECT_DISCIPLINE_ANARCHY

2008-07-16T09:57:00.003+02:00

One of the main problems in the world is the rate at which people have kids in this world. It's obvious that this won't change overnight...but many of those kids will grow up in a house with a parent(s) that are not adequately equipped to raise them. Prolific procreation is the main problem in the world. Weak parenting is the other. A kid with no discipline is a casualty. They have no respect, and that leads to anarchy....

YouTube version (faster loading)

Vimeo version (higher quality)

RESPECT_DISCIPLINE_ANARCHY from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

I'll be adding a rant about this video soon, just too further give you my thoughts on why I done this, and how I feel about disciplining one's child...

Old Swine Times

2008-06-24T12:20:00.007+02:00

Just thought I'd put this up. It's the first issue of Swine Times, the only real publication during my time at college, for the students, by the students. This first issue made such an impact at that place, that the powers that be tried to halt us of producing another. They got that right. But this first issue remains. It's a testament that standing up for what you believe in can make a difference...anyhoo, it's a pdf, so download and laugh till the cows, I mean, swines, come home...O...and if you're squeamish, DON'T READ THE LAST PAGE. Ja. Enjoy.

*big ups to all those who helped out, Maggie, Rapha, Darrin, Chad, Jobin, Ryan, Lee-Lee, Roche, and Dr Swine...if I skipped anybody, just remind me, lol.

Click here>>>http://www.mediafire.com/?s2lt3zmij4m

Xenophobia Rant Spenelo

2008-05-28T11:44:00.005+02:00

Vimeo version

Xenophobia Rant Spenelo from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

You tube version

BLOCKED!!!

2008-05-09T12:49:00.004+02:00

Hi. So ja. Facebook will be alot quieter for a while now. Because, it's been blocked where I work. So has every other social networking site and every site that uses streaming media, thanks to the ass-wipes that misuse the resources where I work, now I must pay for your impertinent behaviour!!! >_< So, until I get my internet at home sorted out, I'll be missing from pc facebook, and youtube (meaning no more clips for now...oi.) But I'll leave you with my latest graphic offering, that I used as my fb profile pic just before it got blocked...

It's called find your equilibrium, and all I'm trying to say is that all of us have a good side, and a bad side. But if your a goodytoshoes-trying-to-be-better-than-everyone-else all the time, or a evilistic-666-vattie-kakkie-badass mofo all the time, the poo will hit the fan sooner or later. So. Find your equilibrium. Balance yourself out. Go soul searching. Find out why you're tipping the scales the wrong way. Find out who you are. Because how can you change if you don't know what's wrong?! Do a good deed. Take clothes to a shelter. Feed a hungry street child. Put Noleen on a diet. Whatever. But also. DOn't be trampled upon. If someone is doing you wrong, tell them you don't like what they doing, you think it's wrong and they must hit the road. If someone is hurting you, get help from someone you trust, or purchase a taser or some pepper spray. In a country, in a world, where rules and laws seem twisted because those in power manipulate it to what they want it to be, in a world where moral degeneration is the norm, going from a moral society, to an immoral society, to a now totally amoral society, where poverty, overpopulation, disastrous weather, corruption, lack of faith and obscene crime riddle our society, isn't it wise to know who you are and where you stand. If you don't try to live balanced, then the wheels will come off.

I really miss facebook and youtube. But what can I do. Maybe this is a way for me to balance out my life...

Explanatory rant of Money poem video.

2008-04-21T11:40:00.004+02:00

This video will better explain my logic for the poem. I tried to upload it too youtube, but the conversion f*cked the timing waaaay out of sync. Ai.

Money Poem

2008-04-16T14:02:00.004+02:00

My latest graphic offering...

You tube version

Vimeo(higher resolution version)

Money Poem - Spenelo from Spenelo Stevens on Vimeo.

Land Of Sin: Part I

2008-03-11T15:33:00.001+02:00

Me be new...

2008-03-11T14:50:00.000+02:00

Hi...I just signed up. Give me some time to get used to this. Lol.