Director Raman Djafari of the Blinkink studio curated an international team of 15 artists to craft an animated odyssey for Coldplay’s latest single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove.”
This is a story about two souls finding each other repeatedly in many different forms. Using several animation styles (stop motion, 2D, 3D, digital painting, oil pastels on paper, watercolor, laser cut felt!), the pair travel between worlds in a three-part narrative: Longing, Searching, and Finding.
The music video was a huge global collaboration involving contributors from Switzerland, the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., Sweden, the Netherlands, and South Korea. Each artist had their own segment to animate, showcasing an incredible breadth of international talent.
A narrative framework was created that allowed each animator to express their unique style with seamless transitions that take the audience through newly constructed worlds.
The transitions required meticulous planning, demonstrating the team’s incredible attention to detail. Each animator initially created the start and end of their scenes, enabling the creation of 16 bespoke transitions that smoothly shift from a pencil-drawn 2D section to a stop-motion sequence of two crabs slow-dancing.
“Animation is so capable of speaking in the language of our thoughts and emotions,” said Djafari. “That is, fluently transcending between feelings, changing perspectives, reflecting the way we as people experience the world or even our dreams. I wanted to make a video that expresses this through the many forms of animation.”
CreditsClient/Artist Coldplay; Sam Seager, commissioner. Production Company Blinkink Raman Djafari, director; Josef Byrne, exec producer; Alex Haley, head of production; Alexander Handschuh, producer; Jon Mealing, co-producer. Animation Collaborators Tokay (whose team included DOP Marco Jorger, and Konstantin Rosshoff and Julia Estrada for set/props), Dante Zabella (Louis Fourell for additional animation; and thanks to Pauline Guitton and Rodrigo Goulao de Sousa), Martin Robic, KINEMUS (team included Toby Auberg and Michelle Brand), Jack Zhang (with Alejandro Edger as additional animator), Nike Lindroth von Bahr (Nicklas Nilsson, set; Johanna Schubert, animation; Nicolas Maurice 3D print), Moera.cf (Thierno Bam, assist animator), Gaia Esther Maria, Aaron Fisher, Karlotta Freier (Pauline Guitton, Marion Boisrond, animators), Isabel Garrett (Cat Johnston, art director; Rachael Olga Lloyd, modelmaker; Ronnie McQuilla, DOP; Andy Biddle and Mai Nguyen, animators; Robin Jackson, rigging; Hannah Cooper, prop assist; Claphan Road Studios), Hannah van der Weide, Kohanna Wilson, Ram Han (MyeongJun Kim, clean up/character). Postproduction John Malcolm, lead compositor; Rob Ward, Simon Lucas Howe, Simone Ghilardotti, compositors; Maria Cecilia Tedemalm, comp assist; Jacob M Wolf, Joe Totti, storyboard artists; James Barber, animatic editor; Calum O’Toole, edit assist; Andi Chu, colorist; George Blomiley, color producer.
Top Spot of the Week: Director Jake Scott, Paramount Brand Studios “Make Your Gameday Epic” In “Gladiator II”-Inspired Pepsi Spot
Nearly 20 years after Pepsi’s “Roman Empire” made its mark on pop culture, the brand is returning to the arena with a colossal Gladiator-themed campaign titled, “Make Your Gameday Epic™.” Celebrating the start of the 2024 NFL season and the highly anticipated release of Paramount Pictures’ Gladiator II in theaters on Nov. 22, this short film--directed by Jake Scott via RSA Films for Paramount Brand Studio features Megan Thee Stallion, as Empress Megan, leading a legion of NFL superstars turned Gridiron Gladiators, including Josh Allen, Derrick Henry, Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelce, locked in an epic battle with ice-cold Pepsi at the heart of the action. A brand-new gameday anthem from three-time, Grammy award-winning artist Megan Thee Stallion soundtracks the campaign. The unmistakable “boom, boom, clap” from Queen’s epic track “We Will Rock You” is featured on a fresh sample with cutting new lyrics from Megan. The new track became available on all major music streaming platforms, and ahead of Megan hosting the 2024 MTV VMAs last night (9.11), where the track and music-video inspired spot were heard and seen throughout the show. “I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of the legends who appeared in this Gladiator campaign 20 years ago and proud to have carved my own new legacy,” said Megan Thee Stallion. “Pepsi really brought the worlds of music, sports and entertainment together in a powerful way to set off the new NFL season.” The spot opens with Lamorne Morris and Jake Lacy peering into a can of Pepsi Zero Sugar as it transforms into a colosseum. Empress Megan calls the shots, and the royal roster of NFL players are at her command as they all vie for her favor and a sip of an ice-cold Pepsi... Read More