Channel Frederator Blog

Chris Sayer and Jason Arber

Wyld Stallyons directors/animators Chris Sayer and Jason Arber give Channel Frederator a little insight on designing the brilliant music video for The Blizzards’ “The Reason”, what inspires them, and how they would deal with a gigantic, amorous beast.

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Jason Arber: I didn’t formally study animation; I learned on the job and was often pointed in the right direction by Chris, who knows a lot more about animation than me. Normally, Chris would do the character animation, but on this job I did all the character stuff while Chris handled the backgrounds. But it’s good to mix things up a little bit, I think.

Chris Sayer: Ever since I realized that you could create the illusion of motion though a sequence of drawings, I’d always wanted to be involved in animation. I started with flick books and later progressed onto the Amiga 500. I was then able to experiment with other forms of animation using the very awesome Deluxe Paint III. But most of the time my early attempts at animation was more of a hobby done at home. I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I studied BA Illustration with animation at the metropolitan university in Manchester and then went on to do an MA in animation at the Royal College of Art London.

CF: What or who has influenced your work the most?

JA: I come from a live action background, so I really love the films of David Lynch, particularly Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. I’m also influenced by art and photographers, such as Trevor Brown, Marina Bychkova, Tatsuyuki Tanaka, and so on.

CS: I grew up on a healthy diet of cartoons, from Disney masterpieces like Snow White and Dumbo to the TV classics like G-Force and Magic Roundabout. At college I was inspired more by the independent film makers and animators such as Norman McLaren, Caroline Leaf, Len Lye, Oscar Fischinger, Jan Svankmajer, Brothers Quay and I’m still inspired by their work today.

CF: How did you develop the visual concept for this music video/song?

JA: The song’s lyrics are all about unrequited love, and when you’re rebuffed by a giant woman it doesn’t get more extreme than that. There were elements of King Kong, Godzilla and Cloverfield in there, but those aspects didn’t become apparent until after we’d finished the treatment, which we tried to make as visually dramatic as possible. The look of the animation came about because of the short production schedule: the population of the city had to be very simple so that they were quick and easy to animate, and the city had a very blocky feel so that we could churn out a lot of buildings very quickly. But once we were on that path, we refined all the aspects so that they took on a life of their own. We deliberately created a very cool, neutral palette for the city and its inhabitants to indicate that they led very dull lives, and might react violently when a giant, bright pink woman appears!

CS: Jason has pretty much summed it up here. What he said.

CF: What is your favorite animation?

JA: I don’t have a single favourite animation, but rather I have a whole slew of movies which change all the time. They include “Alice” by Jan Švankmajer, and the dark, surreal output of the Brothers Quay, such as “Street of Crocodiles”. I also love the Pixar films of Brad Bird, like The Incredibles and Ratatouille. I love anime, with Ghost in the Shell being my favourite film in that genre.

CS: Man this is a tough question to answer! I live and breathe animation everyday. I start the day by watching Peppa Pig and The Little Princess in the morning with my 3 year old daughter. Then, I go to work and spend all day creating strange imaginary worlds that always seem to either explode or implode at the end. I’d have to agree with Jason here. “Alice” by Jan Svankmajer is an excellent film and one of the best interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland in my opinion. And as far as current films go - Pixar has been leading the way for many years now. The Toy Story series, and The Incredibles are still at the top of my favourites list. But they have to share that place with Kung-Fu Panda which has some of the best character animation I’ve seen in a long time.

CF: A giant monster is attacking your city - do you run away, fight it, or love it?

JA: Love it, of course!

CS: I’d probably love it… until I get squashed!

Thanks, guys!

You can watch Wyld Stallyon’s video of The Blizzards’ “The Reason” right here on Channel Frederator!

– Bailee DesRocher