Production Company

Blinkink

Raman Djafari combines live action and animation to brilliant effect in the extraordinary new video for the brilliant Ashnikko - creating&nbsp;a Mad Max-esque dystopian landscape to transform the pop star into a monster truck-wielding hero, fighting off robot overlords as she navigates a strange new world.In an intense bombardment of visual imagination, Djafari fuses his signature aesthetic of texturally rich CGI with the unhinged, transgressive ambitions of Ashnikko, to create a wonderful, weird, high-octane action movie.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]The influences on the video range from painters Bruegel and&nbsp;Carravagio, to Bjork, to&nbsp;90s animes like Neon Genesis Evangelion - but you really have to watch on repeat to catch everything that is going on.Djafari worked closely with Ashnikko and her creative director Vassu Vu in conceptualising the video for Worms - which takes the distinctive style of his&nbsp;previous work -&nbsp;such as his massively successful video for Elton John and Dua Lipa's Cold Heart - into a whole new dimension.[imgtoken data:2]"I wanted to create a vast world that stretches way beyond the bounds of this one music video, like there's an abundance of stories waiting to be told," says Djafari.&nbsp;"I indulged my love for creature design and developed dozens of individual characters, monsters, robots and a huge monster truck. It was important to me to bring the world around this album to life, with a richness that reflects the depth of the music and lyrics.[imgtoken data:3]"Working with Ash and Vasso was a truly precious collaboration between artists - they supported and trusted my personal interpretation of the universe they created together. Looking back, I wish I could have spent more time in this world. I feel like this video barely scratches the surface of what I would love to create together with Ashnikko."Fingers crossed we'll get another chance to collaborate in the future.” &nbsp;

United Kingdom

Raman Djafari

Jake River Parker

Josef Byrne

Alex Halley

Molly Turner

Rowan Mackintosh King

Sam Seager

Vasso Vu

Julia Pavliuk

Hunter Daly

Rupert Hornstein

Nicola Braid

Tanmoye Khan

Laurent Arnaud

John Malcolm Moore

Laura Little

Holly Wood

Claire Moore

Mee Kyung Kim Porter

Georgia Olive

Rich Woolway

George Neave

Coffee & TV

Rich Martin

Will Hooper

Ashnikko 'Worms' by Raman Djafari

Ashnikko_Worms_credits

Blinkink has announced the signing of two new&nbsp;talents to their roster of directors - Samuel Mason and Isabel Garrett.Garrett,&nbsp;who is joining Blinkink for global representation,&nbsp;is known for handcrafting&nbsp;tactile stop motion pieces that straddle the line between surreal and subversive.&nbsp;Graduating from the prestigious National Film and Television School in London, she is formerly a resident artist at Alexander McQueen’s Sarabande Foundation, her films combine stunning animation craft with her dark sense of humour.Commissioned by Sarabande, her upcoming short film&nbsp;Bod&nbsp;is a delicate yet avant-garde film that captures the tactile, vulnerable beauty of the characters designed by sculptor and performance artist Daisy Collingridge. The film is set for online release January 19th with an event celebrating the launch at Sarabande Studios in London. Watch the trailer&nbsp;<a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/projects/bod?token=xZQT9PEEzAlztn19VCg3wGi3jt1SKADY" target="_blank">here</a>.Meanwhile,&nbsp;Mason is a director and visual artist whose work sits within the realms of hyperrealism, weaving narratives through tangible dreamworlds. His films are extravagant and highly concepted with detailed storytelling that take viewers on journeys that transcend this world. They have innate photo-realistic qualities yet maintain an artful, painterly feel that blends the surreal with the cinematic.Mason's video for Mac Miller's Colors and Shapes, taken from the late artist’s mixtape&nbsp;Faces,&nbsp;struck gold at the Clios, picked up a Graphite Pencil at D&amp;AD, was nominated at this year's UKMVAs,&nbsp;and was awarded ‘Music Video of the Year’ by Shots last year. As well as music videos, he has also traversed the world of commercials with films for Honda, Spotify, Facebook and New York Times. He joins Blinkink for representation in the UK and Amsterdam.• Watch Samuel Mason's work at Blinkink <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/samuel-mason">here</a>• Watch Isabel Garrett's work at Blinkink <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/isabel-garrett" target="_blank">here</a>

Isabel Garrett

Isabel Garrett and Samuel Mason join Blinkink

Following his previous work for BRONSON, Bastille and the BBC's coverage of last year's Winter Olympics, Balázs Simon now pushes the boundaries in animation further with his remarkable work&nbsp;for US electronica duo Odesza.The video for Light Of Day - a track with plaintive vocals by&nbsp;Ólafur Arnalds - introduces us to a hunched figure, emerging from a cave: he is a very old man, robed in furs, who surveys&nbsp;the remote, hostile, freezing mountainous world around him.&nbsp;On a distant peak a golden light is visible. And the old man begins to set off, on the impossible&nbsp;journey to reach that&nbsp;light. - an unfeasible task, due to the hostility of the terrain.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]This magical tale, a life-affirming parable of the benefit of fortitude and on the cyclical nature of Life itself, is given great depth by its hugely impressive and innovative execution. It takes the form of an animated painting, where the 2D nature of the image is continually developing, and the old man's progress is expressed through the application of painterly digital brushstrokes. This is an aesthetic style that really works as the underlying movement of the figure is essentially realistic.<blockquote>I wanted to harness the immersive qualities of 3D animation, but also make it more painterly.</blockquote>Simon achieved this very distinctive and poignant visual piece through a combination of&nbsp;live action, motion capture, 2D and 3D animation.&nbsp;To create an immersive world, the environments were crafted in 3D with painterly 2D brushstrokes applied. The character’s movement was recorded via motion capture and real life elements were shot to complement the 3D environment, heightening the sense of realism.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:2]"I was fascinated by the idea of this very old character who gets rejuvenated in a sense during his struggle to experience something magical," says&nbsp;Balazs Simon. &nbsp;"This film is about focussing on the values of life, and not giving in to the pressures we face each day. I wanted to harness the immersive qualities of 3D animation, but also make it more painterly than usual. The result is a mixture of hand-painted backgrounds, in-camera effects, motion capture - and tens of thousands of algorithmic brush strokes in each frame!"&nbsp;Like the old man's journey to the top of the mountain, it is a brilliant achievement - and rather magical too.

United States

Beattie Hartley

Bea Egyed

György Fábos

Barcsay Marcell

Dániel Szabó

Balázs Simon

Sunnyside Animation

Máté Barbalics

Max Halstead

Brin Frost

Szilard Totszegi

Róbert Erdélyi

Gyar

András Piroska

Electronica

Odesza ft Ólafur Arnalds 'Light Of Day' by Balázs Simon

Odesza-'Light-Of-Day'-by-Balazs-Simon

Blinkink’s Stevie Gee and&nbsp;Essy May direct a dreamlike promo&nbsp;for The Range, AKA James Hinton.&nbsp;The music video for Urethane - from Mercury, Hinton's first album in six years - follows&nbsp;a set of twins on their journey to seek mercury on another planet; the most sought after commodity in this beautifully animated world. Ruled by the mercury man, the characters eventually&nbsp;morph into him after being consumed by all of his power.[imgtoken data:1]The video explores themes of decay, growth and rebirth, visualised in iridescent textures and soft pastel colour palettes, which simultaneously feel both nostalgic yet contemporary.The director duo's distinctive style shines magically throughout the concept, creating a world that feels familiar yet otherworldly, and provides an unexpected visual treatment for the track.&nbsp;

Ed Roberts

Andrew Clarke

Stevie Gee

Essy May

Eve Somerville

Will Barnett

Domino Records

The Range 'Urethane' by Stevie Gee, Essy May

The Range - Urethane (Official Video)

Is there life on Mars? There certainly seems to be so in Jac Clinch's absorbing promo for Police Dog Hogan, but not in the way you might expect...&nbsp;The animated video for Here Comes Crow explores a strange and wonderful narrative about an ancient civilisation&nbsp;of crows indigenous to Mars.&nbsp;We follow the story of an astronaut who is tormented and ultimately sent mad by a mysterious crow.&nbsp;Clinch was forbidden&nbsp;in the brief from showing the astronauts faces, and as a result had to bring a great deal of detail and emotion through the character's body language to&nbsp;articulately tell the story.Beautifully rendered in 2D, the video has a charming, ethereal style that is playful yet haunting, and the enigmatic climax will leave viewers mesmerised.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;

Jac Clinch

Adam Clarke

Country

Police Dog Hogan 'Here Comes Crow' by Jac Clinch 

Police Dog Hogan - Here Comes Crow

Gustaf Holtenäs directs a mesmerizing and bizarre epic for rock legends&nbsp;Iron Maiden for Stratego, from their acclaimed new album.&nbsp;The film takes place in a Japanese-inspired landscape, with two rival armies heading to battle in an action-filled match of the ancient Japanese strategy game&nbsp;Shiogi. As with his recent video for Black Midi, Holtenäs combines 2D and 3D elements to create a mind-boggling visual to match the monumental tone of the song.[imgtoken data:1]This is the second&nbsp;collaboration&nbsp;between Blinkink and Iron Maiden, following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/07/19/iron-maiden-writing-wall-nicos-livesey/71952">The Writing on the Wall</a>, directed by Nicos Livesey, released last month.Stunningly executed, the rich textures, vibrant colours and seamless animation form a dreamy, transcendent aesthetic, contrasted by the riotous, high energy pacing and bloody narrative. Truly epic in scale and well worth a watch.[imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3]&nbsp;

Gustaf Holtenäs

Sami Goddard

Minna Floss

Caroline Morin

Wash

Danielle Barnes

Heavy Metal

Rock

Iron Maiden 'Stratego' by Gustaf Holtenäs 

Gustaf Holtenäs - Iron Maiden "Stratego"

Balázs Simon&nbsp;directs a sprawling 3D animated digital landscape for Bastille’s music video for their new single Thelma &amp; Louise&nbsp;from their upcoming fourth studio album. The video serves as the&nbsp;sequel to the video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/06/29/bastille-distorted-light-beam-jak-payne/71653" target="_blank">Distorted Light Beam</a>, building on the world established by Jak Payne - who joined this project as creative director.In this high concept work, we join frontman Dan&nbsp;exactly where we left him in the previous video:&nbsp;having entered the Futurescape with The Engineer, played by Remmie Milner.As the world continues to crumble outside, we see our heroes floating in a virtual fantasyland made entirely of pixel-like cubes. In the digital space, their avatars have moments of intimacy and play which intercut with their live-action counterparts.[imgtoken data:1]To build this 3D universe, Balázs and his team had to develop custom code, animating up to 90 million individual elements, each with its own defined mass and physics. The scale of this project meant that optimisation and rendering on the fly were integral. This process ensured there was enough computer memory and processing power for the video to be completed. Balázs later discovered that Pixar had to overcome similar hurdles in making the film&nbsp;Soul.The finished product is an immersive and impactful world that elevates Bastille’s new music into an audiovisual experience and impressive addition to Balázs Simon’s growing portfolio.[imgtoken data:2]

Jak Payne

Rosie Brear

Laura Northover

Remmie Milner

Tuna + Icon

Feature Films For Families

Umbrella Budapest

Anna Smoronova

Blink

Bastille 'Thelma & Louise' by Balázs Simon

Balázs Simon - Bastille 'Thelma and Louise

Raman Djafari brings his signature 3D stop-motion like 3D animation style into the big time world of pop for the remix of Elton John's Cold Heart by PNAU, featuring Dua Lipa.In this case, Djari also adds anime-influenced 2D elements to create a world full of celebration, dance and joy - including&nbsp;Studio-Ghibli-inspired renditions of Elton and Dua.[imgtoken data:1]We follow the journey of four disco-dancing friends - reflecting the era that Elton enjoyed first time around, and Dua references in her hit album Future Nostalgia - of identical portly stature, as they move through galaxies that are increasingly dense with colour and nature.[imgtoken data:2]Along the way, they make friends with all the spectacular life they find; spreading joy as they go.&nbsp;They end their journey dancing with Elton and Dua&nbsp;at the best garden party this side of the Milky Way.[imgtoken data:3]Created in the isolation of the pandemic and inspired by the collaboration of two British icons, legendary and new, this video encapsulates a post-lockdown feeling to get back to a place where we can once again enjoy and feel music together, 2021-style.[imgtoken data:4]

Gareth Owen

Rosa Siabi

Seo young

Jack Stone

George Brunt

Katie Dolan

Disco

Remix

Elton John & Dua Lipa 'Cold Heart' (PNAU remix) by Raman Djafari 

Dua Lipa & Elton John - Cold Heart

Blinkink director, metalhead and&nbsp;massive Iron Maiden fan Nicos Livesey fulfills a personal dream by directing&nbsp;the video for the legendary heavy metal band's new single. The result is a blockbusting&nbsp;epic six-minute 2D and 3D&nbsp;animated video that imagines Belshazzar's Feast... aka The End of the World.From the moment a mysterious&nbsp;gowned Samaritan tends to the last moments of a dying man in a parched desert, we are unmistakeably placed in a dystopian world ravaged by pollution and drought. Then the elite class begin to arrive for their exclusive party in the desert - including a fat, bloated US President and a bunch of faceless, bowler-hatted British civil servants...[imgtoken data:1]But their dastardly rule of the Earth is about to come to an end. The gowned figure is none other than legendary Maiden mascot Eddie, who summons the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse to destroy the vampire who is feeding off the souls of the young, perpetuating the rule of the elite...Derived from an original storyline from Maiden frontman&nbsp;Bruce Dickinson, and storyboards by veteran Pixar artist Mark Andrews, Livesey&nbsp;and&nbsp;Blinkink&nbsp;then pulled out all the stops to bring the production to life - and this was eight months in the making.The combination of 2D and 3D animation involved&nbsp;around sixty crew members, working across the globe in the UK, France, Spain, Norway, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Greece, USA, and Canada.It's an epic take on Armageddon - which becomes the basis of a new beginning...[imgtoken data:2]

Nicos Livesey

Bart Yates

Elliot Dear

Rosanna Morley

Sam Sneade

Mark Andrews

Iron Maiden 'The Writing On The Wall' by Nicos Livesey

Iron Maiden – The Writing On The Wall (Official Video)

London-based animation production company Blinkink have announced the arrival of four new&nbsp;directors to its roster -&nbsp;Jack Brown, Danaé Gosset, Louis Clichy and Balázs Simon.&nbsp;Three of the four directors - Brown, Gosset and Simon -&nbsp;have joined Blinkink having created noteworthy work in music videos, while Clichy comes from a background in animated features.&nbsp; &nbsp;Jack Brown has officially signed to Blinkink just weeks after he collaborated with the&nbsp;production company on the video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/04/27/weeknd-ft-ariana-grande-save-your-tears-remix-jack-brown/70609" target="_blank">The Weeknd featuring Ariana Grande's&nbsp;Save Your Tears</a> (above, top left), which has garnered over 65 million views in less than a month&nbsp;since release.This followed his work on the videos last year for&nbsp;Tom Misch &amp; Yussuf Dayes' Nightrider and Tidal Wave and Tiggs Da Author &amp; Nines' Fly 'Em High. Check out his work on the Blinkink website <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/jack-brown?utm_source=Blink+Mega+List&amp;utm_campaign=eb649325ef-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_05_21_04_21_COPY_02&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_bd0fbdc30c-eb649325ef-80324377&amp;mc_cid=eb649325ef&amp;mc_eid=20957b1ada" target="_blank">here</a>.Danaé Gosset is a multifaceted Parisian animation director specialising in the craft of&nbsp;mixed media moving images. Originally plying her trade as an art director and designer in New York, she has built a distinctive&nbsp;visual language that has garnered attention from the likes of D&amp;AD, SXSW, Adobe and Nike.She has also directed acclaimed videos for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2019/02/06/mitski-pearl-saad-moosajee/57166" target="_blank">Mitski's A Pearl</a>, and Boys Noize &amp; Kelsey Lu's Ride Or Die (above, top right), together with NYC-based Art Camp,&nbsp;and Low Island's Don't Let The Light In, employing a painterly style and variety of techniques&nbsp;to tell surreal stories. Watch her showreel on the Blinkink website <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/dana%C3%A9-gosset" target="_blank">here</a>. Hungarian animation director&nbsp;Balázs Simon&nbsp;has received recognition for several music videos over the past few years, ranging from nominations at SXSW and the UKMVAs for his music videos for Nils Frahms' Re and Leifur James's Wurlitzer,&nbsp;to recently winning at the 1.4 Awards for the&nbsp;Blinkink-produced <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/06/01/bronson-ft-laura-heart-attack-bal%C3%A1zs-simon/65072" target="_blank">Heart Attack&nbsp;for electronic powerhouse, Bronson</a> (above, lower right).&nbsp;He has also recently dipped his toes into the live action world having directed David Guetta’s music video, Save My Life. Check out Balázs Simon on the Blinkink website <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/balazs-simon" target="_blank">here</a>.Award-winning director Louis Clichy honed his craft as an animator on feature films Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up while working at Pixar, before going on to direct&nbsp;Asterix: The Land of the Gods&nbsp;and&nbsp;Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion&nbsp;for which he was nominated for a César Award for&nbsp;Best Animated Film in 2019. Louis Clichy's showreel on the Blinkink website is <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/louis-clichy" target="_blank">here</a>.• More at the <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/our-work/" target="_blank">Blinkink website</a>

Jack Brown

Danae Gosset

Blinkink add four directors: Jack Brown, Danaé Gosset, Louis Clichy and Balázs Simon 

Raman Djafari creates a masterpiece of slow-burning tension and wonder, featuring a hero for the age, for the much-lauded Brighton alt-rock outfit Squid's eight minute epic Pamphlets.The animator, who works in both 2D and 3D, now applies his distinctive graphic style to build the three-dimensional world of a devilish-looking fellow. He is blue-suited, blue-lipped and nailed - and with mini-horns - but appearances turn out to be deceptive. He is trapped within his domestic space, looking out into a crowded world, unable to join in.[imgtoken data:1]Due to the wonderful attention to detail in the animation that suggests stop-motion even as it must be made digitally, Djafari (aided by character animation and rigging by Barney Abrahams) orchestrates his progress through his isolation to transformation, with occasional nuggets of cartoon magic, and finally to a transcendent metamorphosis.&nbsp;In the gradual pacing and the focus on the character of this existential&nbsp;hero, Djafari allows the complex art-rock sound of Squid to fill the gaps in providing the drama. And it all comes together in a brilliant climax. The blue devil changes physically -&nbsp;but its also clear that this is the emergence of a new state of self-empowerment.[imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;

Barney Abrahams

Warp Records

Alternative

Squid 'Pamphlets' by Raman Djafari

Raman Djafari - Squid "Pamphlets"

Director Jack Brown has teamed up with Blinkink to create an animated music video for the remixed version of The Weeknd's Save You Tears’ remix, featuring Ariane Grande - a journey through the manufacturing line of The Weeknd’s own underground lair as he creates his perfect companion. Which is Ariana, of course.The video marks a big step forward for Brown, who only kicked off his music video career last year with work for Poppy Ajudha and the delightful video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/09/09/tom-misch-yussef-dayes-tidal-wave-jack-brown/66466" target="_blank">Tom Misch &amp; Yussef Dayes' Tidal Wave</a>. That was a boy-meets-girl story in an exotic location - and in its way, so is this one.It begins in a sparse desert landscape before venturing deep underground to Weeknd's world cave-like factory - part-NASA, part-Willy Wonka. A head separately from a body - a running motif through the videos created for The Weeknd's hit album After Hours&nbsp;- appears on the conveyor of a production line. And so begins the start of the creation of the doll version of Ariana...With&nbsp;The Weeknd - in his trademark scarlet lounge&nbsp;jacket, naturally - as the overseer&nbsp;to the creation,&nbsp;the doll becomes more and more developed. Arms, legs and a body come together, for the big reveal.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3]

Matt Marsh

Dom Thompson-Talbot

Sav Akyüz

Pete Sharp

Dexter Maurer

James Neilson

Anita Gill

Andrew Khosravani

Ed Smith

Katherine Spangenberg

Gaurav Wakankar

Maki Yoshikura

Michael Towers

Nikunj Patel

Thomas Knowler

Jonathan Gallagher

Paul Cheshire

Adriano Vessichelli

David Toba

The Weeknd ft Ariana Grande 'Save Your Tears (remix)' by Jack Brown

Jack Brown - The Weeknd "Save Your Tears Remix ft. Ariana Grande"

Butt Studio - aka Harry Butt - pushes the boundaries&nbsp;of 3D with this visually extraordinary&nbsp;masterclass for Tame Impala's Breathe Deeper.Dripping with hallucinogenic textures and distorted environments, the breathtaking animated promo is packed to the brim with&nbsp;anthropomorphic creatures, who traverse these fantasy worlds with an electric energy.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Utilising his experimental approach to animation, Butt&nbsp;dreamed up a trippy dragonfly epic, creating the dragonflies and building the world in 3D. He then craftily&nbsp;comped 2D faces on them, bringing additional tones and textures to the overall piece.Incorporating a vast amount of animation techniques, the video&nbsp;is&nbsp;anachronistic in its presentation, balancing nostalgia and futurism with the uncanny aesthetic and charming style. Each frame is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and Butt has managed to create what many others could only wish to do - a video that has never been seen before.[imgtoken data:2]It's a truly unique film and as it's his first narrative piece, a perfect way to start a new phase of creativity for Butt Studio.&nbsp;HARRY BUTT (BUTT STUDIO):<blockquote>Both 3D and 2D animation have their limitations... so we began to put the two worlds together.</blockquote>"It was important for me to find a story that was an unexpected solution to creating a video for this track. I was aware that I was very much in the shadow of who I was pitching against - and creating a Tame Impala music video is really one of those once in a lifetime things - so I had to move way beyond what I would usually think of as a safe choice."The initial brief was about a drug experience, and so the natural environment and storyline between non-human characters provided this alternative way to visualise the experience whilst still staying close to the emotion and feeling in the track. We've all seen drug experiences in film and animation before - so I smashed together unexpected settings for a story with my own personal experiences to try and create a unique approach.[imgtoken data:3]"Both 3D and 2D animation have their limitations - so in an attempt to try and pick and choose each techniques best bits we began to put the two worlds together. There's still so much more that could have been done to integrate the two but it was important to begin to bridge that gap in this film. &nbsp; "The film for me was a huge learning curve and a real playground. I'm very grateful for all the support from the crew who patiently built our world and story into this final product we can all be super proud of."

Australia

Butt Studio

Black Kite Studios

Indie

Tame Impala 'Breathe Deeper' by Butt Studio

Tame Impala - Breathe Deeper (Official Video)

In this extraordinary year, could this be the biggest&nbsp;music-visual lockdown project of all? Back in the late spring, just as lockdown was easing, directors James Papper and Will Hooper were awarded&nbsp;responsibility&nbsp;for a very&nbsp;ambitious project: to create a visual&nbsp; accompaniment to&nbsp;the whole 50 minutes-plus length of an album of remixes&nbsp;of Dua Lipa's hit album Future Nostalgia.Collaborating with numerous visual creatives, who all&nbsp;worked under lockdown conditions from their home cities - including the likes of Berlin studio Sucuk &amp; Bratwurst, Ignasi Monreal from Madrid, LA-based collective Actual Objects, Seo Young Kwon in Seoul, Brooklyn-based Miza Roux, Mason London in London, and more -&nbsp;the plan was to mirror the structure of the mixtape, where Dua Lipa and DJ/producer The Blessed Madonna have a gathered an array of artist-collaborators,&nbsp;from Mark Ronson, Madonna and Missy Elliot to Joe Goddard, Moodyman and Jayda G.[vidtoken data:0]Will Hooper, the <a href="https://blinkprods.com/talent/will-hooper/" target="_blank">Blink-based director </a>of music videos in the past couple of years for the likes of Declan McKenna, Bree Runway and Slaves - and nominated for Best New Director at this year's UKMVAs - was responsible for the live action side of the project:&nbsp;the video for the Blessed Madonna remix of&nbsp;Levitating,&nbsp;also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3tCHMagPOY" target="_blank">released separately</a>,&nbsp;and transitions between all the videos on the visual album.&nbsp;Meanwhile, James Papper led on all things animation - which involved him working with&nbsp;different design/animation creatives from all over the world, and supervising&nbsp;the making of fourteen individual&nbsp;films for the album featuring a wide range of animation styles, from fully-realised 3D worlds to 2D animation to illustration-led visualisers.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Based at&nbsp;<a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/directors/james-papper" target="_blank">Blinkink&nbsp;in London</a>, Papper usually directs&nbsp;commercials - his work includes ads for&nbsp;Camden Town Brewery and Voxi. It was a step out of his comfort zone, but it was a challenge he relished, as it gave him the&nbsp;opportunity to work with people - other illustrators, designers and animators, that he has long admired. And as a result, with the&nbsp;addition of Hooper's VFX-fired live action video for Levitating - featuring Missy Elliot as well as Dua Lipa - the&nbsp;Club Future Nostalgia&nbsp;'visual album' is&nbsp;a true mixed-media extravaganza.&nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>I have lists of people I want to work with&nbsp;[so] this project was a dream.&nbsp;</blockquote>"Following the work of artists is what I do with my own time," Papper tells us. "I have big lists of people I want to work with that I hold on to, [so] this project was a dream. Budget and Dua’s name allowed me to go to the top of that list." Firstly, he showed a selection of his favourite creatives and examples of their work to Dua Lipa, to see what would work for her. "I got to know what she liked visually, and was able to choose the best artists to fit her and her music," he says.[imgtoken data:2]Furthermore,&nbsp;the period of lockdown was also a real influence upon the whole project and how it was briefed out to the creatives, and Papper reveals that this was the core of his proposal when pitching to direct the whole project."At the beginning I was inspired by my own, and everyone else’s solitude during lockdown," he explains. "I wanted to explore our own daydreams whilst being locked inside, and that’s the idea for the video - escapism.&nbsp;With Dua in her room listening to records and being transported to a meditative, repetitive dreamworld."&nbsp;That idea then informed his briefs to the artists that he commissioned - and crucially, he asked the artists to use their own experience during lockdown as a jumping-off point for their imagination.[imgtoken data:3]"I wanted them to take me to their dreamworld," says Papper. "It’s not just about Dua’s experiences of solitude, but all of ours. Collectively, as a species, we were pretty much all experiencing similar levels of solitude, and something that shook up society and&nbsp;civilization as we knew it. In that sense, although we were in solitude, we were also connected.<blockquote>It felt like we were allowed to do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed true to our vision.</blockquote>"Those were the themes I wanted to explore: connectivity, dreams, escapism. And that was what I spoke with every artist about. Their interpretation of this is what made this project interesting. Loads of amazing creative minds coming together under one roof." [imgtoken data:4]Each artist had the same simple one-line brief:&nbsp;Dua in her bedroom daydreaming. After that, Papper says "we built ideas together", but his the elvel of communication and day to day involvement in their work varied greatly. "Everyone was different, and it was an organic," he says process. "With some, contact was minimal; with others we spoke pretty much every day. It was cool."But the fact that there were creatives all over the world working on the project meant that it felt like a relentlessly non-stop process.&nbsp;"Because everyone was in a different timezone it meant that it was always being worked on," he says. "Like 24 hours a day someone, somewhere was working on it. Which was kinda&nbsp;mental,&nbsp;but also made for great productivity as it spread it out nicely."[imgtoken data:5]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It clearly required a can-do attitude, and a calm head to marshall this project, and Papper admits that "the sheer magnitude of it" was the most intense and challenging aspect. His team at Blinkink - particularly Gareth Owen, who produced each film, and EP Josef Byrne - were there to help with the strain. But also, Papper says that, crucially, the artist and her team were hugely supportive throughout the process.[imgtoken data:6]"Dua and her team were very cool about feedback, and super-trusting," he says.&nbsp;"It felt like we were allowed to do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed true to our vision. Being a commercial director I’m not used to that level of freedom. So it was nice knowing we had the means to make whatever we wanted, that loads of people were definitely going to see it, and that we’d be supported in our decisions."<blockquote>I wanted to explore our daydreams whilst being locked inside - it's about&nbsp;escapism.</blockquote>While this activity happening all over the world, Will Hooper was in London creating a live action video for Levitating, at the moment that shoots were starting again under the strictest conditions due to the pandemic crisis. This involved shooting only couples who had spent lockdown together - including Dua and her boyfriend&nbsp;Anwar Hadid - in a world where young lovers harness the power of a cosmic event. Then Missy Elliot was filmed in the&nbsp;US, directed by Hooper remotely from London.[imgtoken data:7]"I was brought onto the project a short while after James and Dua’s team had started laying the groundwork for the album film," says Hooper. "James and I were initially gravitated towards the collaborative nature of what Dua had achieved with bringing all these artists from across the world together and we wanted to lean into that with the visual."Working with James was mega. He’s a very creatively smart person and the first couple of weeks we spent smacking our heads together trying to work this thing out are sorely missed. We spent a lot of time on Zoom, James likes to look out of his window while he’s articulating his ideas and it’s very cute."We asked Papper&nbsp;to give us his take on each of the fourteen films he directed on the project.JAMES PAPPER ON EACH COLLABORATION FOR THE CLUB FUTURE NOSTALGIA VISUALISERFuture Nostalgia Director: James Papper Design &amp; Illustration: <a href="https://robinvelghe.com/" target="_blank">Rhymezlikedimez</a> (Ghent) JP: "Robin [Velghe, aka Rhymezlikedimez] is cool and just top of the game at what he does. It was nice working closely with him to make something that just looked very good."[vidtoken data:1]Cool Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation:&nbsp;<a href="http://sucukundbratwurst.de/" target="_blank">Sucuk &amp; Bratwurst</a> (Berlin) "For the most part I let these guys do their thing. I’ve been a big fan of their work for a long time and I didn’t want to constrict their way of thinking. The interesting part of this job for me was adapting to every artists different workflow and nuanced ways in which they like to be directed."[vidtoken data:2]Good In Bed Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/zawhatthe/?hl=en" target="_blank">Jonathan Zawada</a> (Sydney) "Jonathan is not only a mega-talented cool guy but also just very lovely, and I enjoyed really nice phone calls with him where he would be very positive and excited about all potential ideas. His enthusiasm is contagious."&nbsp;[vidtoken data:3]Pretty Please Director: James Papper Creative Direction: <a href="https://actualobjects.org/" target="_blank">Actual Objects</a>; directors: Claire Cochran, Rick Farin&nbsp;(Los Angeles) "Actual Objects were amazing to work with. Their stuff is so sick and nostalgic to me, it reminds me of the movies that would play out in between levels you played on Playstation. Like when you completed Tekken and would get a character movie or something."Our process was chilled we just spoke a few times about ideas, then I wrote up a brief, put it in a deck and they just blasted it out. I love it, it’s one of my faves for sure."[vidtoken data:4]Boys Will Be Boys Director: James Papper Artwork &amp; Design: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/robertbeattyart/?hl=en">Robert Beatty</a> (Lexington, KY)&nbsp; "Robert’s stuff is sick. As soon as I knew he was involved I just thought about an alien club in space. I miss going out, dancing, etc. I just wanted to see an extreme version of what I wanted in life."[vidtoken data:5]Love Again Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation: <a href="https://www.joeprytherch.com/" target="_blank">Mason London</a> (London) "Mason [aka Joe Prytherch] absolutely killed it and was a pleasure to work with. I tried to let him do his thing for the most part, because he is so good and so experienced already. He’s also a very nice guy."[vidtoken data:6]Break My Heart Director: James Papper Designer: <a href="http://www.mizaroux.com/now" target="_blank">Miza Roux</a>&nbsp;(Brookyn, NY); Animator: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/casparwain/" target="_blank">Caspar Wain</a> "Miza and I made friends throughout the project which was nice, as I had not much time outside of it to socialise. We just wanted to take what she had already been doing (cool/surreal bedroom scenes) and animate them."Her style is very sick and I’ve loved her work for a long time. Luckily I also had Caspar Wain to help with extra design and animation and he went above and beyond."[vidtoken data:7]Hollaback Director: James Papper Artwork:&nbsp;<a href="https://ignasimonreal.com/" target="_blank">Ignasi Monreal</a> (Madrid); Design &amp; Animation: <a href="http://connorcampbell.studio/" target="_blank">Connor Campbell</a>[vidtoken data:8]<blockquote>"Ignasi and Connor were a dream team..."</blockquote>Love Is Religion Director: James Papper 3D Design &amp; Animation:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/saidamagic/?hl=en" target="_blank">Saida Saetgar</a>&nbsp;(Vancouver) "Saida was very nice and took direction well. We went through a load of different ideas, thinking about themes of love, religion, etc, and came to something very cool. Saida is not only great at brainstorming but good at coming up with beautiful visuals which are very satisfying to watch."[vidtoken data:9]Don’t Start Now Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation: <a href="https://studiodosage.com/" target="_blank">Studio Dosage</a>&nbsp;(Bristol) "Ben Dosage was amazing to work with on this. Ben and I have known each other for a while so it was good to work with a mate."Ben and I discussed ideas a lot and worked closely, but for the most part Ben did his thing and it was really cool to see. His visuals were amazing and I love the story he told."[vidtoken data:10]Physical Director: James Papper Co-Director: <a href="https://ignasimonreal.com/" target="_blank">Ignasi Monreal</a>&nbsp;(Madrid);&nbsp;Design &amp; Animation:&nbsp;<a href="http://connorcampbell.studio/projects" target="_blank">Connor Campbell</a> "Ignasi and Connor were a dream team. I first got Ignasi involved and we spoke about ideas. Ignasi was pulling up a lot of anime references and we were trying to figure out who would be good to pull his work together."That’s when we found Connor, who was amazing. The pair worked so well together and came out with an amazing product at the end."[vidtoken data:11]Kiss &amp; Make Up Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation:&nbsp;<a href="http://glander.co/" target="_blank">Julian Glander</a> (Brooklyn, NY) "Julian is cool and funny and I just wanted him to do his thing. I love reading the chat down the side of his visualiser, it’s such a funny addition. That’s kinda what I mean about being allowed to do what we want. We just chucked that in there and Dua loved it."&nbsp;[vidtoken data:12]<blockquote>I love reading the chat down the side of Julian's visualiser, it’s such a funny addition.</blockquote>That Kind Of Woman Director: James Papper Design &amp; Animation:&nbsp;<a href="http://vewn.us/" target="_blank">Victoria Vincent aka 'Vewn'</a>&nbsp;(Los Angeles, CA) "I've been a fan of Vewn’s for a while. Her films are super funny and she’s a great storyteller. She was a pleasure to work with and I couldn’t have asked for someone better to go on this track!"[vidtoken data:13]Break My Heart (Moodymann remix) Director: James Papper Design:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/tototatatu/" target="_blank">Seoyoung Kwon</a>&nbsp;(Seoul) "Seo’s artwork is amazing, I love what she does. She is also incredibly easy to work with. I had been watching a lot of 80s anime around the time I found her,&nbsp;and I just wanted to make something very satisfying and glowy. Luckily she was keen to work with me and so we made this together.[vidtoken data:14]"I mentioned '80s anime to our compositor Richard Perrigo and he got super excited by that and was able to push things in compositing stages to achieve this effect. I really wanna work with Seo and Rich again to do this more. If you are a famous popstar and you’re reading this, hmu so I can work with these two again pls xxx."Future Nostalgia Remix Album&nbsp;- Production CreditsProduction Company: &nbsp;Blinkink&nbsp; Production Company:&nbsp;&nbsp;Blink&nbsp; Director: &nbsp;James Papper&nbsp; Director:&nbsp; Will Hooper&nbsp; Producer: Gareth Owen&nbsp; Producer: Corin Taylor&nbsp; BlinkInk Executive Producer: Josef Byrne&nbsp; Blink Executive Producer: Laura Northover&nbsp; Production Manager: Rosanna Morley Production Manager: Seb Jowers&nbsp; Editor: Jamie Harris&nbsp; Commissioner: Katie Dolan• James Papper is represented by <a href="https://blinkink.co.uk/our-work/" target="_blank">Blinkink</a> for commercial and music projects; Will Hooper is represented by <a href="https://blinkprods.com/" target="_blank">Blink</a> for music videos and commercials &nbsp;

James Papper

Behind The Video Album: James Papper & Will Hooper on Dua Lipa x The Blessed Madonna 'Club Future Nostalgia' 

Dua Lipa & The Blessed Madonna - Club Future Nostalgia (Official Visualiser)

01_FutureNostalgia.mp4

02_Cool.mp4

03_GoodInBed.mp4

04_PrettyPlease.mp4

05_BoysWillBeBoys.mp4

06_LoveAgain.mp4

07_BreakMyHeart.mp4

08_HollabackGirl.mp4

10_LoveIsReligion.mp4

11_DontStartNow.mp4

12_Physical.mp4

13_KissAndMakeUp.mp4

14_ThatKindOfWoman.mp4

15_Moodyman.mp4

Created during the depths of lockdown the theme of collaboration can be seen and heard; it’s the backbone of the 50 minute Future Nostalgia mixtape, featuring Dua’s collaborations with the likes of Mark Ronson, Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Stevie Nicks. &nbsp; BlinkInk’s James Papper directed thirteen different artists and animators from all around the world working on each bespoke visualiser.&nbsp; Each artist worked under lockdown conditions from their home cities: Madrid, Seoul, Sydney, Berlin, LA, Vancouver, New York, Kentucky, Gent and London to name a few. Having each track designed by a different artist, mirrored the structure of the mixtape itself; with each track being taken on by a different musician.Blink’s Will Hooper directed all of the live action elements, including the video for Levitating featuring Madonna &amp; Missy Elliot, remixed by The Blessed Madonna. The live action video features Dua Lipa with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid.Artists from around the world were brought together to give their own unique touch to Dua’s album. Such a wide array of musicians have been involved, from Mark Ronson and Missy Elliot to Moodyman and Jayda G, this mixtape has crossed the commercial line into the underground and back to Madonna!&nbsp;With this in mind, Blinkink and Blink joined forces to create a master plan for the remix of Future Nostalgia, with James Papper leading on animation and Will Hooper overseeing all things live action.&nbsp; From the beginning, their plan was to mirror the structure of the mixtape and have as many incredible artists as possible work on the visuals. The result is a mixed media masterclass of some of the finest animators, illustrators, artists and studios around the world coming together to create a wild 50 minutes of entertainment.The list of collaborators is impressive; HipHops’s favourite&nbsp;Rhymezlikedimez&nbsp;takes on the first track, Future Nostalgia featuring Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard. From there we enter the world of Berlin Collective&nbsp;Sucuk &amp; Bratwurst, with the remix of Cool handled by Jayda G. Ausi based artist&nbsp;Jonathan Zawada, takes on the Zach Witness’s remix of Good in bed. LA’s&nbsp;Actual Objects&nbsp;created an incredible 3D world for London based producer Midland’s remix of Pretty Please. Design legend&nbsp;Robert Beatty, working out of Kentucky, flexes his surreal talents for another Zach Witness mix of Boys Will Be Boys.&nbsp; The following two tracks take us into the illustrated world of&nbsp;Mason London&nbsp;for Love Again and Idaho’s&nbsp;Miza Roux, in Break My Heart with Jamiroquai and HorseMeatDisco taking care of the sound.&nbsp;From here, we take a break out of animation and into the real world for the track ‘Levitating’ ft Missy Elliot, remixed by The Blessed Madonna. Directed by Blink’s Will Hooper, this brilliantly crafted live-action piece features Dua Lipa with other half Anwar Hadid, in a world where young lovers harness the power of a cosmic event.With that craziness over we transition back into animation with Vancouver based&nbsp;Saida Saetgar&nbsp;surreal trip into Love Is Religion and Bristol’s&nbsp;Studio Dosage&nbsp;offering up some 3D magic for Don’t Start Now. Mark Ronson’s remix of Physical featuring Gwen Stefani is brought to life with the exceptional artwork of&nbsp;Ignasi Monreal, who teamed up with the visualiser master&nbsp;Connor Campbell.&nbsp;Julian Glander, takes on the&nbsp; trumpeteering 1960s legend that is Herb Alpert in an amazing link up of the old and the new for Kiss and Make Up. From there, we go into the illustrative world of LA’s YouTube star&nbsp;Victoria Vincent, with the remix of That Kind Of Woman by none other than Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, in another cross generational team up! Finally, we finish up with Seoul illustrator,&nbsp;Seo Young Kwon&nbsp;teaming up with House legend Moodyman for his version of Break My Heart.

Corin Taylor

Seb Jowers

Jamie Harris

Dua Lipa & The Blessed Madonna 'Club Future Nostalgia (Official Visualiser)' by James Papper, Will Hooper, various

After winning a D&amp;AD pencil for their film for the Born Free Foundation, Brazilian animation studio Zombie has now collaborated with Moby with a shattering take on a subject close to their hearts - the rampant destruction of the Amazon rainforest.In a story created entirely in CGI, the video for My Only Love chronicles the heartbreaking separation of a leopard and her cub, as the forest is terrifyingly razed to the ground around them. What you see in the film is a meticulously recreated version of the real rainforest - the same plants, animals and landscape, perfectly replicated&nbsp; in stunning 3D animation.It's a work of imagination, that could only be created in animation,&nbsp;in order to tell the story of a catastrophe. It is not much of a spoiler, to reveal that there&nbsp;is no happy ending in this scenario. But the real impact is the powerful feeling it leaves with the viewer. It does not shirk from a difficult but unavoidable conclusion: the bad guys are winning.&nbsp;• Moby has announced a live Twitch event taking place on August 5th at 9pm, BST. During the program, he will be joined by the Zombie team along with other guests to discuss the realities of deforestation as a result of animal agriculture.[imgtoken data:1]

Paulo Garcia

Zombie Studio

Daniel Salles

Natália Gouvea

André Carvalho

Patrick Botton

Marcio Pasqualino

Psycho N' Look

Moby 'My Only Love' by Zombie

Moby - 'My Only Love' (Official Music Video)

Barcelona-based Trizz Studio's Oriol Puig directs an introspective narrative&nbsp;told through beautiful 3D&nbsp;animation, in the epic video for Dermot Kennedy's Giants.&nbsp;The visual&nbsp;opens with a spark to ignite the journey, a spectacular wall of clouds erupting in an otherwordly location. A tapestry of computer-generated environments and textures follow, as metal fibres interweave to form an exoskeleton&nbsp;of Kennedy.&nbsp;The power of nature and Dermot’s persona suggest a spirit of both mechanical and detailed phenomena in Puig’s artistic mind.[imgtoken data:1]As he makes his way through the perpetually changing landscape, the very structures of the ground and earth&nbsp;twist and deform to create new textures and shapes. Speaking about the striking concept, director Puig says "We&nbsp;created a subject and set it in constant motion, sometimes struggling through different situations, then stopping to enjoy moments of simple beauty - a metaphor for a constantly evolving life."The production value on-screen is breathtaking, and the themes of humanity and evolution are represented through the everyday being presented in an unusual way- for example, a torrent of blue sand moving in an invisible container, and bubbles of mercury expanding whilst the ground implodes around them. These uncanny details&nbsp;help immerse the viewer in a new world and environment, something familiar but very alien at the same time, and the detailed attention to&nbsp;light and shadow&nbsp;blurs the boundary between reality and imagination.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:2]This project marks the first collaboration between Barcelona studio Trizz and the UK's BlinkInk.&nbsp;Trizz were commissioned in lockdown during mid Covid, just as nature’s recovery became apparent.&nbsp;“Coronavirus has made people rethink their relationship to nature and how that affects our actions." Puig continues.&nbsp;"It’s made us rethink and visualize the impact we have and how quickly nature is able to self-heal. This brings us to a new set of emotions and a new angle on what our priorities should be."[imgtoken data:3]Spanning three months work with weekly updates to the record label, the film was made 95% in 3D, with additional performance sequences of Dermot shot against a greenscreen at his home.&nbsp;Trizz scanned existing video footage of Dermot to learn his poise and mimic as well as reference his textures, and the environments were generated from photos and&nbsp;shaded, lit and manipulated using procedural and particle systems.Beautifully executed and an exciting first collaboration for the two animation studios, Giants is a cinematic adventure through a futuristic landscape, and is impossible to look away from.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ireland

Oriol Puig

Trizz

Chris Vulpi

Harriet Christie

Alex Martin

Albert García

Tap Management

Caroline Clayton

Richard Sloan

Singer songwriter

Dermot Kennedy 'Giants' by Oriol Puig

Dermot Kennedy - Giants (Official Video)

A woman discovers the light and power she holds inside herself,&nbsp;in Balázs Simon's incredible visual for Heart Attack.&nbsp;Following the exploration of plastic and its effect on our planet in his last video - for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/04/30/leifur-james-angel-disguise-bal%C3%A1zs-simon/64612">Leifur James' Angel In Disguise</a>&nbsp;- Simon is back with a multi-format meditation on our own belief systems.&nbsp;Spanning live-action, motion capture, CGI and 2D animation, the video depicts a woman struggling against a wind tunnel of intense light, battling the debris that has broken from the dark underworld in which she lives. As other residents look on, she transcends her physical limitations to become one with her destiny, walking on as a part of the universal light.&nbsp;It's beautiful and multi-layered work from a director (and creative team) who are making a habit of pushing the boundaries of the music video&nbsp;format.&nbsp;

Hungary

Bronson (ft Lau.ra) 'Heart Attack' by Balázs Simon

Blinkink

Production Company

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