The Prophecy | Bring to Bear
ANIMATED & LIVE ACTION MUSIC VIDEO
Role: Storyboard Artist, Videographer, Director, Animator
The Challenge
The Prophecy was due to be the first release from metal band Bring to Bear's new EP. This was their second CD release, so they wanted to build on their previous success with an impactful video.
Time was of the essence, and because at this point the audio tracks were still in process, I suggested that an animated video would allow us to get ahead of the game, and any live action footage could come later.
The lyrics of the song meant I had room to play with mysterious and curious imagery which was a lot of fun to animate. I am very pleased to be able to show you my process below.
Artwork Style
With tarot cards an early suggestion for image themes, I explored the band's past EP artwork only to discover these simplistic cave-style paintings of the band members which had been done previously.
I thought it would be a great way to reflect on their past work by re-introducing the characters in animated form within the tarot cards themselves.
Another Easter egg I wanted to plant was subtly adding the name of the EP; 'Journeys Through', which I did so by creating a back of the tarot card to fit with the artwork style.
My first job was to recreate the illustrations in high-res vector form so I had the capacity to scale them up as large as was needed and make them into puppets for myself to animate more easily.
This was done by taking the originals into Adobe Illustrator and tracing the new elements over the top. This would allow me to then create layers of all the moving body parts which I could animate separately in Adobe After Effects.
The way the characters were animated needed to be simplistic to reflect the style of the artwork, so whilst they come to life, they are clearly not smooth and realistic when compared to their live action counterparts.
Storyboard
With plenty of ideas, it was time to create a detailed plan of all of the shots for the video.
It was important to plan out what needed to be filmed in detail as much as the animations so I could ensure a seamless transition from one to the other.
The animation work was to be done in Adobe After Effects, with the elements set up in 3D space to allow a 'camera' to zoom in and out, adding depth to our otherwise 2D imagery.
Because this was also a lyric video, I needed to think ahead on how the words would be displayed. The song used two different styles of vocals, which was reflected both in the way it was displayed in the video, and the font choices.
Direction & Camerawork
Once the storyboards were approved, I began the filming process. I sourced several objects that were on-theme and filmed them at close range with candle-effect lighting for extra atmosphere.
When the audio tracks were completed, I scheduled the band members to come in and perform their song as individuals on a black background. I then added them into the animated tarot cards in post-production.
This was a great project to have been a part of and I enjoyed not only organising each part of the production, but exercising my different skill sets for each element.