A while back, we engaged in a small debate about the term “interactive”—especially as it relates to video and other entertainment content. Well, today, Arcade Fire dropped another mind-blowing interactive music video—their third, if you’re keeping count (See Black Mirror and Neon Bible). The first two gave users the ability to manipulate sound and video… this one, however, just takes you back to the place you grew up.

I won’t spoil the details (mainly because you need to experience it for yourself), but you can read more about how director Chris Milk pulled it off at the Google Chrome Experiment page. Yeah… the whole thing was built in HTML5. Notice. Served.

We love a challenge. Particularly when it involves our favorite pastime: Creating human-animal hybrids. In the new film, “Dinner for Schmucks,” Jemaine Clement plays a Mathew Barney-esque artist name Kieran Vollard. It’s no secret that we’re big-time Jemaine fans—so when director Jay Roach asked us to help create the artwork to represent Jemaine/Kieran’s warped artistic vision, we jumped at the chance.

Our good friend Jeremy Dimmock (of Polyester in Toronto) joined us for the project and, well, that’s when things got interesting. Two photo shoots, a little animal taxidermy, a frozen octopus, and a whole lotta Photoshop yielded the final pieces and we even got to hang out on the set the day that Kieran’s gallery show was shot for the film.

With that problem solved, we got to work on the animated title sequence for the opening of the film. The task was both strange and challenging: Complement (but not compete with) a massive dead-mouse diorama that plays a prominent role in the film. Somehow, we pulled it off. To say that it was amusing and unusual just doesn’t quite do the project justice. Then again, aren’t those the very best kind?

Want more? “Dinner for Schmucks” opens today and you can catch the complete title sequence, Kieran’s artwork and lots of other really funny stuff at a megaplex near you. For now… check out Jemaine’s righteous/riotous interview (including artwork!) with Jimmy Fallon:

After a couple months of hard work, the PDX crew was proud to put the finishing touches on a beautiful, immersive, brand-focused site for Newcastle Brown Ale (big shouts to our friends at Vitrorobertson and TWC). As the site went live, we were reminded of something we had almost forgotten (but not quite): Our very own Patrick Marzullo (aka Tricky, Trickster, Scrap of Man) is featured quite prominently just below the Opening Acts hotspot on the Record Store page.

You see, the hired talent just wasn’t up to our rigorous standards. We needed someone who could look at records and swig beer like a champion… and, well, Patrick rose to the occasion. Check out the entire Newcastle experience HERE. And check out the entire Patrick Marzullo experience HERE.

Like any good children of the 80s, we love LEGOs. So when our friends at Pereira & O’Dell hollered at us with a couple LEGO projects (the LEGO Photo iPhone app and LEGO CL!CK site), we didn’t hesitate. Coming into the studio to work/play with LEGOs all day—physically and virtually—has been ridiculously inspiring.

Now that the results of a few (okay, more than a few) late nights are alive and kicking on the Interweb, we’re predictably giddy about the positive response. LEGO Photo is the #5 Free App in the iTunes Store as of today. Good (and incredibly smart) people from Fast Company, Mashable, KRonikle (the Kidrobot blog!), app.itize.us and WIRED have all had nice things to say about the projects.

So. Download the app. Get inspired on the site. And… please upload your LEGO-fied photos to the Flickr group we just discovered. You can see some of the early results of the collection here:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Please be careful. LEGOfying an already-LEGOfied image may disrupt the balance of the space-time continuum.

Part 9? Really? This is getting a little out of control. But, as long as there are talented people to profile (and as long as your ravenous appetite for clever quips and ridiculous links remains insatiable), the beat goes on.

Dylan Smith. Interactive. @dylansm. PDX.
Our mothers taught us that if we didn’t have something nice to say about someone, we shouldn’t say anything at all. Dylan… well… uhmmm… Dylan is… uh… hmmm… Aw, c’mon, Dylan! You know it’s not true. We have lots of nice things to say about you. We just can’t really say them right now. Not while the HR folks are looking over our shoulders. Are we serious? Actually, yes. Very serious.

Andy Smith. Lots of Things. LA.
A California native, Andy is a vintage car aficionado who dreams of one day buying a classic muscle car and heading for a weekend in Vegas. You know, just like those one dudes. Andy enjoys cooking (while his wife fixes the leaky faucet!), movies and anything written by James Ellroy. But lately, he’s been tackling the works of Dr. Seuss with his kids, Ben and Josie.

Leslie Roberts. Producer. SLC.
What does Leslie love? Plants. Flowers. Dancing during staff meetings. Adventures. Christmas presents. Fishing. Fresh air. Songs. Poems. Books. Paintings. Small animals. Large animals. Bright copper kettles. Warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages all tied up with string. Who does Leslie love? You. F’reals. She loves you.

Jonathan Minori. Interactive. @minoflow. SLC.
One day, Jonathan Minori will direct a music video. Hopefully, it’s something like THIS and not something like THIS. Although, if it were something like THIS blended with something like THIS, my head would probably explode from sheer awesomeness. In the meantime, Jon lives on powder, owns BKnowlden in triathlons and designs pretty things for the internets.

Daniel Conner. SLC.
Mr. Conner won the Struck Fantasy Football Championship last year. He was a merciless trash-talker. He let no one forget his victory. This year, the gods of nerd football have evened the score and the DPC currently resides in the basement of the league. You know what they say about karma… Anyway, Dan’s not a complete lost cause. He likes to fish Henry’s Fork in Island Park, ID and he (supposedly) graduated from  Thunderbird (THE American Graduate School of International Management). I guess we’ll believe him… but that school sounds totally made up to me.

Melissa Crespo. @this_melis. SLC. (Honorary Induction)
While the UofU soccer standout has returned to an institution of higher learning and no longer sits, meets and eats with us—she said something on her last day that we’ll probably never forget: “Good things come from following the rules, but nothing great.” Well said, Mojo. Well. Said. (Cue swelling strings… and here we go with the slow clap… Clap… Clap… Clap… And, BOOM, thunderous applause!)

Sunday night our beloved RSL faced the evil Landon Donovan, David Beckham’s shark-jumping hair and the rest of the LA Galaxy. We watched. We prayed. Our hearts pounded as if we had swallowed a fistful of ephedra. After 120 minutes and seven rounds of penalty kicks, our boys triumphed. And, while they were the underdogs on paper, they were the best squad on the pitch that night. Beckerman controlled the flow of the match. Rimando was a typical beast in the pipes. And Robbie Findlay just kept attacking until a small crack appeared for the equalizer.

So, with the Anschutz Trophy resting safely at the foot of the Rockies, now’s as good a time as any to show off a couple print ads we delivered earlier this year for XanGo (RSL’s jersey-front sponsor) and RSL. At the beginning of the season, these executions might have felt aggressive… Now, they just feel right.

Big congrats (again) to all our friends at RSL! Let’s do it again next year!

(If you haven’t experienced the intensity of the PK shootout, do yourself a favor and WATCH IT HERE. There’s nothing better than watching Landon Donovan blast a PK over the crossbar…)

Today at noon, the folks behind Avatar released something they’re calling an Interactive Trailer. Intrigued by the the word “interactive,” I downloaded and installed the Adobe Air application. There’s no doubt that the movie looks amazing (and it should, James Cameron has spent practically the whole decade obsessing over every detail), but I’m a bit confused about what, exactly, makes this trailer “interactive.”

I suppose we all have our own thoughts about what “interactive” means. Quite simply, I think it means that the user’s action should create a unique and variable experience—and I don’t believe that’s the result of the Avatar Interactive Trailer. Everyone has the same basic experience: Watch the trailer then click a thumbnail to watch additional video content. The user doesn’t actually interact with the video, just around it, above it or below it.

After fiddling with it for 20 minutes or so, I don’t get it. I don’t see how this application is any different from a standard movie website that offers a series of videos. So, I have questions: Why build this as an Adobe Air application? What does “interactive” mean these days? Does just clicking to watch additional content constitute an “interactive” user experience?

In this case, ”interactive” just seems like the wrong label—especially when it comes to video content. The bar has already been set high by truly interactive video pieces like Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible and Cold War Kids’ I’ve Seen Enough. And the Avatar Interactive Trailer certainly doesn’t live up to that standard.

Agree? Disagree? Let’s hear it.