Thursday, 26 September 2013
Animation Practice
Monday, 16 September 2013
The Uses of Animation in Music Videos
As it's unanimous that we'll be using Animation in our music video, and as I'm chief Animator-- (I'm the only animator), I'll be looking at some examples of animation in music videos.
Firstly, Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.
Let's face it, this is a trippy video. I love it, but it's mad.
There's certainly no narrative to it at all, so it's solely concept-driven. And, well, performance too, considering Peter Gabriel's ridiculous face is right in the middle of it all.
There's a use of mixed media, of course. But for the most part, it's based upon stop-motion. And when it isn't, it's camera tricks.
We may or may not incorporate some of these tricks in our music video---
It might be cool to do so, but-- Sledgehammer is really weird and aged. We don't want our music video to be so, too.
Ah, here is something modern. A recent single from Arctic Monkeys brings along this visually intriguing music video, Do I wanna know?
The beginning is simply S-waves to the music, but with the chorus, it evolves into something much more interesting. The waves morph and transform into and out of eccentric characters and vivid movements. An interesting concept, definitely, and it's stunning to view. The fluidity and the way the movement compliments the music is incredible. The video gradually gets more and more ridiculous and fast-paced as it reaches the end. Again, an incredible finish to a great video. It reminds me of Disney's Pink Elephant's on Parade, in the way objects are morphing into each other, and how it both visually stunning, and baffling.
This is my kind of music video. It really tugs on the heart strings, right?
Okay, it's utter madness. But of course it is. It's japanese.
The crazy Japanese 90's Techno Artist, Denki Groove put out this single in 1999, and boy howdy, is it nightmare fuel. While it may not be animation-based, I had to mention it at some point, because of the sheer eccentricity. When it was established that we were going to be making music videos, this was exactly the kind of video I had in mind. I'm sorry to admit that, but it's true.
With bright clashing colours, and a cluttered room in a dark and ambiguous atmosphere, it very much clouds the mind. And a music video that leaves the audience with such a strong reaction, is a great music video in my book. Try to watch it without finishing it thinking: "...What the---"
Studio Killers has quickly become one of my favourite musical groups. The beat and melodies are incredibly catchy, sure, but the music videos are stunning. Talk about eye-candy.
Like Sledgehammer, this video also utilises mixed media, but of course, in a vastly different way. The lead singer, Cherry, is an animated CGI model. She was brought to life with 3D animation software. Her surroundings and additional characters, however, are brought to life in 2D. While it brings about a beautiful contrast to make the lead singer stand out in the video, the two media coincide beautifully, truly blurring the lines between 2D and 3D.
The group is similar to British musical group Gorrilaz, in that the group members are represented by animated characters, rather than themselves. The two other members in the group are represented by the fox, (Goldie Foxx) and mink, (Dyna Mink), shown to be playing the music in accompaniment to the singer.
If ever a music video built an atmosphere, this would be it. Incredibly memorable, and outstandingly heart-wrenching, Bedshaped, from Keane, is truly remarkable.
The dark and gloomy colours--- the slanted surroundings-- the queer, odd-ish design of the character. All of these help form the weird and isolated world of the character in this video.
Mainly reliant on concept and narrative, but still retaining some small aspects of performance, the music video follows a strange and outcasted character, and really conveys the feelings of anxiety, loneliness and fear to the audience.
Though the video is mostly stop-motion, there are parts of 2D hand-drawn animation, and so, it is also a mixed media video. The hand-drawn animation however, especially towards the end, is free-moving and fluid, juxtaposed to the stiffness of the plasticine figures. Also the brightness of the ending is a beautiful juxtaposition to the darkness of the beginning and middle of the video.
Firstly, Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.
Let's face it, this is a trippy video. I love it, but it's mad.
There's certainly no narrative to it at all, so it's solely concept-driven. And, well, performance too, considering Peter Gabriel's ridiculous face is right in the middle of it all.
There's a use of mixed media, of course. But for the most part, it's based upon stop-motion. And when it isn't, it's camera tricks.
We may or may not incorporate some of these tricks in our music video---
It might be cool to do so, but-- Sledgehammer is really weird and aged. We don't want our music video to be so, too.
Ah, here is something modern. A recent single from Arctic Monkeys brings along this visually intriguing music video, Do I wanna know?
The beginning is simply S-waves to the music, but with the chorus, it evolves into something much more interesting. The waves morph and transform into and out of eccentric characters and vivid movements. An interesting concept, definitely, and it's stunning to view. The fluidity and the way the movement compliments the music is incredible. The video gradually gets more and more ridiculous and fast-paced as it reaches the end. Again, an incredible finish to a great video. It reminds me of Disney's Pink Elephant's on Parade, in the way objects are morphing into each other, and how it both visually stunning, and baffling.
This is my kind of music video. It really tugs on the heart strings, right?
Okay, it's utter madness. But of course it is. It's japanese.
The crazy Japanese 90's Techno Artist, Denki Groove put out this single in 1999, and boy howdy, is it nightmare fuel. While it may not be animation-based, I had to mention it at some point, because of the sheer eccentricity. When it was established that we were going to be making music videos, this was exactly the kind of video I had in mind. I'm sorry to admit that, but it's true.
With bright clashing colours, and a cluttered room in a dark and ambiguous atmosphere, it very much clouds the mind. And a music video that leaves the audience with such a strong reaction, is a great music video in my book. Try to watch it without finishing it thinking: "...What the---"
Studio Killers has quickly become one of my favourite musical groups. The beat and melodies are incredibly catchy, sure, but the music videos are stunning. Talk about eye-candy.
Like Sledgehammer, this video also utilises mixed media, but of course, in a vastly different way. The lead singer, Cherry, is an animated CGI model. She was brought to life with 3D animation software. Her surroundings and additional characters, however, are brought to life in 2D. While it brings about a beautiful contrast to make the lead singer stand out in the video, the two media coincide beautifully, truly blurring the lines between 2D and 3D.
The group is similar to British musical group Gorrilaz, in that the group members are represented by animated characters, rather than themselves. The two other members in the group are represented by the fox, (Goldie Foxx) and mink, (Dyna Mink), shown to be playing the music in accompaniment to the singer.
If ever a music video built an atmosphere, this would be it. Incredibly memorable, and outstandingly heart-wrenching, Bedshaped, from Keane, is truly remarkable.
The dark and gloomy colours--- the slanted surroundings-- the queer, odd-ish design of the character. All of these help form the weird and isolated world of the character in this video.
Mainly reliant on concept and narrative, but still retaining some small aspects of performance, the music video follows a strange and outcasted character, and really conveys the feelings of anxiety, loneliness and fear to the audience.
Though the video is mostly stop-motion, there are parts of 2D hand-drawn animation, and so, it is also a mixed media video. The hand-drawn animation however, especially towards the end, is free-moving and fluid, juxtaposed to the stiffness of the plasticine figures. Also the brightness of the ending is a beautiful juxtaposition to the darkness of the beginning and middle of the video.
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