The idea

In July of this year I had just finished an animated logo for my friend's production company and was looking for another animation project. I wanted to start on something substantial that could eventually be the cornerstone of an animation reel to show to prospective employers and clients. On the 4th of July, I ran into Ryan Groff, lead singer of Elsinore, at a birthday party for our mutual friend Lindsey, and I suggested that I might make an animated music video for one of their songs. Ryan seemed drawn to the idea right away. We discussed influences and exchanged contact information, with plans to hammer out the details at a later date.

After several e-mails back and forth, he and his bandmates settled on the song "Wooden Houses" from their upcoming album "Yes Yes Yes." We also agreed to use the style of the Catch Me If You Can opening credits sequence as a jumping off point in terms of animation style. If you're not familiar with the film or don't remember the opening credits, take a look here:



Ryan sent me a nearly finished mix of the song which I listened to on repeat for the better part of a day. and started to come up with a loose idea for a story. What I had in mind was something based on The Three Little Pigs. Lines like "I can't get in if you don't breathe out" fit so well with a wolf huffing and puffing and blowing a house down. The final line of the song, "This is how hunger strikes begin," is repeated several times. I love the image of a wolf opting to not eat a pig as the end of the song plays.

I sent the idea back to Ryan. I was initially concerned that he might feel that the idea was too light and playful for a fairly serious song, but his responses were all encouraging. Not long after that we met at a coffee shop to discuss the idea in greater detail. We honed the ideas of the video and Ryan told me about his original intentions when he wrote the song.

I guess now all I have to do is make the video.