I've just completed a new music video, this time in stop motion!
The song is by the incredibly talented Liz Green, and is called 'Bad Medicine'.
We were asked to put together an idea for the song a couple of months back. I had a craving to get my hands into a bit more paper animation, and thought it would suit Liz's voice perfectly. I listened to the song on repeat until a story started to develop in my mind.
Almost all of Liz's songs tell rather wonderful stories. She refers to them as adult fairy tales.
Bad medicine was no exception, telling the story of a man neglected and worn down by the world. There was a sense of unfairness in the tone, and the lyric, "Every man wants more than he did before" which started the cogs turning. That sense of greed, and unfairness, coupled with the repeated line, "We've got no way out", made it clear this would have to end in tragedy.
I wanted it to feel raw, and earthy, and above all, without end. I didn't want to tell a story with a definite conclusion or happily ever after, but to show that pattern - a murder which would lead to another, and another...
To set the story in the Western frontier seemed a simple choice. It just fitted.
I joked that I wanted to make Deadwood in paper, and to some extent, that's what I set about doing.
As usual with animations, it was a ridiculous schedule, without much room for sleep. There's only so many times you can wish your hands where smaller before you have to question your own sanity.
Talking to a cardboard tree as the sun came up was a definite low point, but I think it was worth it in the end. Hopefully you do too.
But I was not alone in my struggles, and I'd like to give huge thanks to Glenn, Tobias, Clyde, Simon, Jason, Carly and Mr. K, who were all indispensable in keeping my sanity levels just about on the page.
Now here's some clips of people messing about with paper for a while.
