We recently worked on a set of animation sequences for Berkeley, CA-based singer/songwriter Don Arbor that helps raise awareness about plastic pollution in our oceans. The sequences were commissioned for inclusion in Don’s most recent music video, “Message in a Billion Bottles.”
I’m super grateful to our designer/animator Songyi for her exquisite 3D modeling/animation and to Jen, our art director, for the superb character design and animation of the seal.
At Planet Nutshell we have been super fortunate over the years to have worked for a lot of different Public Broadcasting affiliates and we thought it would be fun to look back at some of our favorites.
Bluegrass music and animation go together like beans and cornbread, as we showed in this fun little ditty — also for KET. I promise it will put a smile on your face.
We also worked with KET to help spread the word about early childhood literacy and some easy ways to engage with kids, turning everyday life into learning opportunities to read, talk, count, play, move and connect.
Every year, we create a broadcast holiday spot for UEN. Enjoy this recent one!
We are super proud of the work we have done for PBS over the years and look forward to all that’s to come!
For decades, our education system has focused intensively on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. STEM fields have brought great prosperity to some and many wonders to us all (I’m looking at you, iPhone).
On the other hand, is our age substantively better?
Some of us are healthier and living longer, to be sure, but life expectancy in the US has dropped. Meanwhile, are we better critical thinkers? Are we happier, more ethical, more peaceful, more empathic to others, and more fulfilled by those things that humans have always found meaningful (I’m looking at you, love and emotional connection)?
These are important questions in an age of material and computational wonder. At Planet Nutshell, we’ve been working on a new and original web series that we hope can help folks remember and rediscover what makes us human. Degradation of the humanities is a trend that undermines the fabric of society, threatening to transform a nation of citizens into a nation of docile workers and obedient consumers, as the historian Bret C. Devereaux recently argued in the New York Times:
Higher education, with broad study in the liberal arts, is meant to create not merely good workers but also good citizens. Citizens with knowledge of their history and culture are better equipped to lead and participate in a democratic society; learning in many different forms of knowledge teaches the humility necessary to accept other points of view in a pluralistic and increasingly globalized society.
We’re doing our part to restore the humanities as vital part of education. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on. Stay tuned.
