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Elsinore - Wooden Houses - Animated Music Video




Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Change of Premises

Since my last post, a great deal has changed. With very little success fining work in Chicago, I have decided to move back to Tolono. Another part of this plan is that I am now planning to move to France for three months starting in February. All of this has meant upheaval and a lack of time for much of anything other than packing, moving and unpacking boxes as well as starting the job hunt all over again in a new location. Anyway I'm back on task and will be updating regularly again. You can expect sketches tomorrow.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Collaboration

Working in film, I have come to believe in the power of collaboration. When two minds apply their creativity to something, the result is often greater than what either could have come up with independently. It is in that spirit that I have started this blog. I am at the beginning stages of creating an animated music video that I plan to do almost entirely alone. My hope is that, by posting my sketches and ideas as I go, I can get feedback and creative input from anyone and everyone reading this blog. Please help me as I progress through the making of this video by sending any comments or suggestions or anything you think I should take a look at that might be a useful influence.

Thanks.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

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.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wooden Houses Lyrics

Wooden Houses
by Elsinore 

Where we are we probably figured out
there's nothing to talk about.
It's all semantic.
A wooden house with windows that slide with rope
might be the antidote for leaving the Midwest.

Happiness, oh it's in your mouth.
It's consonants and vowels in the words you're choosing.
And the phrasing that you're using,
oh, it makes all the difference.

I can't get in if you don't breathe out.
I think too hard and I talk too loud.
I love you, I need you...

Oh, where we are
we've probably figured out
there's nothing to talk about when we're in a panic.
Oh, happiness...oh, it's in your mouth.
It's consonants and vowels in the words you're choosing.

I can't get in if you don't let out.
I think too quick and I talk too loud.
You want words now I can't annunciate.
You've got a response but it's too late.

Carefully constructed.
Attention to detail.
Alright I give up.
The lines on your face are road maps to your brain.

This is how hunger strikes begin.

[VIDEO] Elsinore - Wooden Houses



A live video of the Wooden Houses by Elsinore, the song for which I am making an animated music video.