Client
Vasu Collective
Date | Duration
2019
Creative Director
Rita Dhankani
Executive Producer
Mehul Mahicha
Challenge
Vasu Dixit came to us with an interesting musical composition, inspired by a poem written by poet Mamta Sagar. He wanted us to reconceptualise the video , combining the audio and with hypnotic visuals that gave the song a feel of meditative state. He wanted to launch his music video on YouTube.
Research
This was an interesting project, as we had to think of visuals that personified the musical ambience that was created. We proposed three routes, the first one was a story told through illustrated frames with dynamic camera movement. The second route was to create self reflection, where we visually also used reflective surfaces to personify the message.
Ideation
Finally we settled on the third idea ,which was to create a seamless hypnotic video that resembled an ever flowing river. We wanted to use an amalgamation of mediums (live action and 2D animation) that created a fantastical world derived from the message. Initially, we were inspired from what our eyes perceived as the space above us, kaleidoscopic shots that brought out the trance-like effect intended to go with the music and the lyrics carried a deep meaning and our aim was to capture the depth through our visualisation.
Our inspiration were music videos like Feels like we’re only going backwards by Tame Impala, Go Bang by Pnau and Cirrus by Bonobo.
Production
Since the messaging was abstract and we wanted to provide that ethereal feeling to the video, the treatment that emerged was quite experimental. Capturing Vasu’s footage was very rewarding, but it came with a few challenges. We had to proportionally fit his physical form into the overall aesthetics of the world we had created for the music video. This was helped by the colours and actions we decided to use. Another challenge was to create visual translation for the lyrics in a convincing manner. At several sections we tried to draw parallels between and show some abstract concepts metaphorically.
We created the video shot by shot, adding value to each stage. Being a creative practioner himself, Vasu’s inputs and open mindedness really helped us create this mind-bending video.
Outcome
The team involved had a fun experience collaborating, creating & animating this artistic music video.
Credits
Client
Vasu Collective
Music composition
Vasu Dixit
Translation
Mamta Sagar
Vocals and Guitarlele
Vasu Dixit
Additional Vocals
Joel Sakkari
Programmed and arranged
Joel Sakkari and Abhilash Lakra
Mixed
Abhilash Lakra
Mastered
Vivek Thomas Productions
Music Video Direction
Rita Dhankani
Visual Script
Rita Dhankani
Art & Design Direction
Rita Dhankani
Animation Direction
Rita Dhankani
Visualisation & Storyboard
Vishal Harshey & Rita Dhankani
Animatic
Vishal Harshey & Mehul Mahicha
Artworks
Ratnendra Parmar
Prop Designs
Ratnendra Parmar
Animation & Compositing
Mehul Mahicha, Vishal Harshey, Manas Sarma, Gnan Sai Reddy
3D animation
Gnan Sai Reddy
2D Animation
Vishal Harshey
Production Coordinator
Karishma Parekh
Live Action Floor Director & Editor
Udayraj P J
Camera team
Shyam Nannaiah and Prakyath Narayan