Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1464279
MUSIC VIDEOS was very anxious to work with us. We had bid a project with them a few years ago and they really liked the work that the studio does. We tried to do as much as we could in preparation, because it required some real planning. So much of this was going to be integrating the CG with live action, and giving the DP as much information as we could about what to shoot and how to shoot it." The production stretched across two days and made use of an Arri camera. One day involved a blue-screen shoot, where rigs were used to film the fl ting sequences in which Gomez and Martin come together and then drift apart, traveling through the skewed city landscape. The second shoot day took place on the Universal backlot, where imagery for the opening street scene and addi- tional elements were captured. The Tippett team created a 3D model of a small staircase section that was then produced as a prop for the live-action shoot. The physical stairs helped to serve as a foundation from where the visual effects would start and extend from. "I really wanted the staircase to be kind of kinetic — not static and rigid," Fox explains of its movement. "That kind of helped us in some ways because it meant that we didn't have to have everything feel like it was all locked in space. We could have a 'Chris element' and a 'Selena element' — but they could be moving separately. That way it kind of made it easier to shoot." The Freenjoy team worked closely with Coldplay's Chris Martin on the edit, collaborating on where he wanted close-ups, etc., to appear. Tippett, in the meantime, was working on the build out of the city and staircases. "We defini ely were limited until we could get a cut," says Fox of the VFX workfl w. "We had a lot of material that came from the shoot, so we really needed to narrow it down to know where to get started." The final edit ould also allow the studio to move forward on the matchmov- ing process, which was an important part of creating the effects. A Tippett team of approximately 15 artists and animators used Autodesk Maya, Isotropix's Clarisse, SideFX's Houdini, and Foundry's Nuke and Mari to create the effects. Fox describes the process as "organic," with Meyer giving the VFX team a lot of creative freedom. "It was really free reign," he notes, adding that the team simply needed to stay close to the initial concept art. "[Dave] was very open to, 'If it looks cool, I'm happy.' He was also really good about saying, 'Just tell me the box that I have to work in?'" Les Umberger at Mod is someone Meyer has collaborated with for years. The studio shared assets with Tippett to keep the workfl w moving, which took place over the 2021 holidays. Tippett handled all of the visual effects up until the moment the stairs blow apart. The flying sequen e was executed by the team at Mod. "Then it picks up with some of our shots again at the end," Fox explains. "The whole splitting apart (scene)." For a music video, the project was quite ambitions, but Fox says he was reas- sured when he saw an initial scene coming together. "It's the shot with Chris hanging off the utility pol ," he recalls. "He kind of has his arm stretched out, and kind of looks like something from 'Singing in the Rain.' When that shot came together, I was like, 'This is it!'" He also points to a few shots of the stairs, which he was initially concerned about. If not done properly, the background elements of the city could come off as looking li e miniatures. "How do you sell the scale?" he remembers thinking. "When the compositors started adding these smoke/cloud elements, and we ended up putting these layers of cloud and mist in there, that was it! It was like, 'Perfect! This is going to be great.' We showed it to Dave and he was thrilled!" Alice Glass — Love Is Violence Electronic pop artist Alice Glass recently released a music video for her sin- gle Love Is Violence off her debut tudio album "Prey//IV." The Eating Glass Records artist says listeners can relate to the ups and downs that occur in re- lationships, and how those who have dealt with manipulative or toxic partners experience a "whole other layer of pain." Bryan M. Ferguson directed the video, which takes on the plot of a romantic thriller in which a young couple — entranced by Alice's performance on a retro TV — literally rip each other's hearts (and other organs) out. According to Ferguson, the video of Alice, which appears on the TV, was shot by Kristen Jan Wong using a Sony A7iii camera. "It needed to be shot in prep for the actual video shoot, where her footage would cut to play on the TV as a music video within a music video," he explains of the LA shoot, which took place over the course of a single day. The main portion of the video was shot in Glasgow, Scotland, where Ferguson is based, and spanned two days. A small crew consisted of the direc- tor, his wife/production design assistant Vari Ferguson, DP George Harwood and SFX artist Johann Domingo. That portion of the video was shot using a Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro G2. "My wife and I pulled together materials to build a bedroom set that would look as though it were a lived in teenage girl's room from the early 2000s," he recalls. "And we rigged an Aputure LS C300D mk II light outside the window to remotely control lightning strikes throughout." Ferguson edited the project himself, as is the norm for the work he directs. "It's my favorite part of the process and often feels like the most creative part sometimes because you can really sculpt the footage into anything you want. I don't use anything fancy. I used to cut everything I did on Final Cut Pro 7, but I've finally made the leap o Final Cut Pro X, which is a lot handier and less prehistoric without being too technical. Ferguson cut the performance footage of Alice a week prior to the main video shoot. "It was interesting because I was cutting together footage that was shot remotely, without a shot list, and trying to make it appear as though it were a music video from the early 2000s. I really got a kick out of throwing cheesy transitions and effects on there. I even made up a false music channel intro, but I had to cut it for time." The video incorporates almost no digital effects, with everything done in-camera. "I'm not particularly keen or comfortable using some, if any, digital VFX," says Ferguson. "I'm not opposed to them, I just find the e's something more exciting about seeing things happen on set. It really brings the crew together and excites everyone." Special effects artist Johann Domingo made silicon chest plates, which were rigged to a stand and dressed in the actor's wardrobe to achieve the gory effect of organs being pulled through skin. Director Bryan M. Ferguson also edited the project.