The Challenge

I was offered the task to create a fully animated music video which would accompany the fun loving Christmas track: The Turkey Song.

Due to its playful lyrics exploring global cultures, I wanted to design visuals that would be aesthetically pleasing to a large demographic whilst representing the song in the way it was planned to be received: light-hearted and joyful.

The first step of the process was to figure out the video's look and feel. What style of animation would fit with the music?

Artwork Style

I explored a variety of styles, allowing myself to be inspired by online sources. It was a very open-ended brief so I too wanted to remain open minded.

I collected a number of different stock illustrations and created categorised moodboards for the client to browse. This led to one very clear direction: bold and full of personality.

Once the turkey's image was chosen, I then built the entire world around the turkey.

Storyboard

Mapping out each scene was not only a pleasure, but vital for the client to be able to see the plan and get their feedback before I could commit to building the entire animation.

Timing each event to the music was key, as well as creating slick transitions from scene to scene.

I wanted each shot to flow smoothly from one to the other, constantly keeping the viewer engaged to the end.

The Result

I'm pleased to announce that not only was The Turkey Song featured in the main banner for the Lift-Off Sessions Festival in December 2021, but the video was selected for Lift-Off's First-Time Filmmaker Sessions of the same year!