Animation & Music: Films in Competiton

At MAF, I went to see the Film in Competition: Commissioned and there were 2 animations in particular that I found very memorable. Although I have never animated a music video myself, I often imagine animated scenarios when listening to music, which is why I found these tow animations to be really interesting to watch. 

The first was De Staat: Witch Doctor, which was definitely a strange animation, but it worked really well with the music. 

This is a music video in which motion capture was used on a mass level. Even though my particular area of specialism is not in 3D or motion capture, I found this music video to be really fun to watch. I think part of it's effectiveness was down to the spot on timing. The visual side works extremely well with the song itself, and the choreography is timed really well with the music. In my opinion, this is what made it so effective as a music video.

The second music video which I found inspiring was Quand C'est? by Dirs Xavier Reye & Luc Jr Tam. This was an animation which consisted of CGI and digital 2D. This music video already stood out to me, because the man in the video is a french singer who I often listen to. 

This video was about cancer, and it is represented as a monster. This is a really effective animation because it is based on something so serious and has been represented in such a way. Once again another aspect of this animation that made it so memorable was the fact that it was combined with choreography. As somebody who dances quite a lot, I think I have a particular love for when this is combined with animation. 

After seeing these music videos, it left me feeling eager to make a music video, and this is something I have yet to do. These shorts reminded me how much I love the combination of  animation and live action. I think this is partially why they were so effective as music videos, because the live actors with i it were also performing just as much and with out them, they would not have been as successful.