Being that I’m a huge fan of music… and music videos continue to be one of the main vehicles that allow artists to express their creativity visually… I decided to start a new monthly series of posts for Music Videos. Not for the music but for the creative spirit, cinematography, use of new media, and originality of the video itself. Along with the video, I’ll try to include any relevant stories I can find, or muster, to bring some perspective to the making of the video being featured.
With that in mind, I would like to inaugurate this series by presenting to you… Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing, an exceptionally well done and uber-creative stop-animation video (done entirely in chalk) created by the collective genius that is Shynola. (The masterminds behind the equally awe-inspiring clips from Radiohead’s “Pyramid Song,” Stephen Malkmus’ “Jo Jo’s Jacket” and Beck’s “E-Pro.”)
Interview with Shynola’s Chris Harding (From Motionographer)
The following interview was a joint effort between Motionographer authors Lillian Darmono and James Wignall.
Story
All your music videos seem to have strong, memorable storytelling behind them, yet many (as in this case), don’t seem to relate directly/literally to the lyrics of the song. Is that a conscious decision?
We’re traditionalists at heart, and the main thing we’re interested in is story, so the decision to tell a story was conscious, yes. As for the content, we just try to capture the mood of the songs as a whole, which seems a totally natural approach to us. People often ask us why we don’t follow the lyrics more closely, but to us it’s less interesting to show a literal depiction of what’s being sung.
How did the scriptwriting process unfolded for ‘Strawberry Swing’? What was your inspiration?
In the case of Strawberry Swing, we pitched several times, refining and modifying gradually. The first thing we sent was way different than what we ended up making, but the commissioner must have had confidence in us to get there in the end, because she kept coming back and saying “can you just change this, or add something here?” Often, if bands and commissioners don’t like the first pitch, that’s it—you’re out. But once we’d got to the nugget of the idea—that it would be drawn in chalk, and the story would be a super hero—it was just a process of filling in the blanks.
Technically speaking, this has been done before (Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” and Oren Larvie’s “Her Morning Elegance” music videos), but you guys managed to push it to create something that’s astounding. Can you share with us how you guys managed to achieve such a feat?
We’re aware of those videos, and I don’t wish to denigrate them, but we thought there was more mileage in the technique than they had explored. We never claim to be original, just rigorous. So we wrote a story we thought would be entertaining and went about making it. It was a lot of hard work.
Development
What key steps/decisions were made that contributed to this pushing of boundaries?
Deconstructing our working process is quite hard for me, and I don’t know how anyone else works, so I don’t have a point of reference. As I said, we just try to make work that’s entertaining.
Were there certain “dos and don’ts” that were obvious from the start?
You’re really hammering me on this! Er… Well, in the do’s list, we tried to think of all the different “camera angles” we could simulate by getting Chris lying, standing and so on. Also, we wanted to show as much interaction with the environment as possible, hence the umbrella, oar, cape etc. As for don’ts, I guess the main thing was “don’t let the action slow.”
Biggest challenges—technically and creatively?
Technically, it was all challenging! Creatively, the biggest challenge by far was that we were making our first video since our dear friend and collaborator Gideon had died. Apart from the fact we were lacking his considerable creative input, the process of working without him was emotionally very difficult.
We were all saddened by Gideon’s sudden passing last year. Our condolences go to his family and to Shynola. If it’s not too personal, could you share with us how the group got back together after he died? How has the work dynamic changed, and what were some of the toughest challenges you faced in that regard?
Thank you for your kind thoughts. Honestly, I don’t mind talking about Gideon.
I don’t know how much people know about the way we work—often we get show reels and C.V.’s from people who seem to think we’re a big animation company. The truth is, apart from a couple of times, it was just the 4 of us working in isolation. Old friends from art college who somehow managed to get bands to let us make silly animated films for their songs, a total cottage industry.
So, when Gideon died it wasn’t just a colleague that we lost, but our closest friend and an integral part of Shynola. Afterwards, we didn’t do anything for a long time, we couldn’t face it, but we knew he’d have wanted us to carry on, and especially to finish making The Red Men.
When we got back into it, I don’t think we wanted to admit things had changed, and we tried to carry on as before. In some respects, it led to quite a gruelling experience when making “Strawberry Swing.” We didn’t account for the practicality of having one fewer pair of hands, and I don’t think anything could have prepared us for the emotional experience of making a video without Gideon, but it was something we had to do, and difficult as it was I’m glad we did.
Read the rest of the interview at Motionographer.
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Terrific choice — looking forward to next month’s pick.