“cattails” lyric video creation
For indie pop duo band corner club’s new single “Cattails”, I illustrated, storyboarded and animated a hand-drawn music video. In this song, the lyrics are indicative of a weary spirit, expressing tiredness and a desire to escape into one’s bed. The lyrics are conveyed visually through four different phases distinguishable by each of their distinctive visual styles. The first phase begins in a low mood and simplistic dark background. The dancing green lines twist and turn to the music until they finally form closed eyes slowly awakening, into a bright, naturalistic image with a yellow border. The second phase picks up speed, transitioning into bedroom motifs, with a strong fiery red border. The third phase mellows out, returning the viewer back into melancholic feelings, showing that despite the desire to sleep our problems away, their undercurrent continues to remain.
storyboarding
In my process, I began by sketching out small thumbnails and timing each of the lyric phrases to a different visual scene. Underneath each scene, I’d list the exact motion that would play out. I presented and pitched these ideas, clearly outlining the visual tied to each set of words so they may be cleanly swapped out per the musician’s feedback if needed, prior to any actual animation.
nostalgic illustrations
The drawings are done initially in higher 4k resolution, and then subsequently shrinked down to exportable, sharable gifs to repeat and whisk across the screen as needed. When drawing, I was inspired by motifs of childhood nostalgia, using a crayon-like brush to illustrate different toys and objects of a bedroom escape.
