Many an accomplished animator has cut their teeth on Music Promos, and often they are a testing ground for new techniques- think about Michel Gondry’s infinite temporal loops or how Aardman’s work on Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer opened up the surreal world of stop motion, or Weirdcore’s glitch-filled work with the Aphex Twin. In a saturated media landscape where everyone who has access to software can animate, what is the state of Music Videos today? LIAF digs a little deeper than the Top 40 to speak to animators about the process of making a music video in the 2020s.
Chaired by Saint John Walker – Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios, the UK’s leading VFX, Games and Animation industry training institution in the heart of London.
Recommended Age: 15+
Panellists
Chair: Saint John Walker - Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios
Saint is the author of the Core Skills of VFX Handbook and has designed and run VFX courses across the UK. He has been LIAF’s industry panel coordinator and chair for several years, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. At Escape he has chaired panel discussions for the annual VFX Festival, and has taken part in many Access:VFX activities online and in person.
Andrew Khosravani
Originally from a mixed Brazilian and Iranian background Andrew’s work sits at the intersection of various techniques, visuals and perspectives. Starting off his career as an illustrator he developed a strong visual style before going into animation, giving his work a friendly, loose style that bridges the gap between illustration and motion. Having worked on a range of projects such as music videos, shorts, advertising and science communication his success is reflected in multiple awards including 8 Vimeo Staff Picks. His work spans a range of techniques but the driving force is a desire to communicate often complicated ideas through unique imagery and design.
Phil Tidy
Phi has produced hundreds of music videos all over the world with some of the largest production companies, directors and brands. He has produced music videos for Goldfrapp, the Rapture, H5, the Go Team and Ed Harcourt. He is also co-curator of the BUG Music Video Show, hosted by Adam Buxton, which has been running for 14 years as a bi-monthly showcase of creative talent in collaboration with the BFI and has featured special shows with Radiohead, Moby, Unkle, Fatboy Slim, Warp Records and Ninja Tune.
Ed Bulmer
Ed Bulmer is an award-winning director and animator based in London. He studied Directing Animation at the National Film and Television School, graduating in 2018, and has since continued to make short films, commercials and music videos. Ed’s work is filled with humour and a playful surreality in everyday situations. Applying a mixed media approach to his work, from 2D and 3D animation to live action puppetry and model making, he creates rich and immersive worlds in which his characters live.
Raman Djafari
Raman is an illustrator, animator and filmmaker working in both 2D and 3D, currently living in Hamburg, Germany. Through colourful imagery and fragmented narratives he is hoping to reach into a realm of honest emotionality and willful fragility, creating surreal worlds and characters that oscillate between the familiar and the fantastical. He has directed music videos for artists from across the globe, working with labels such as Universal, Warp Records and Downtown Records, as well as other clients like Adult Swim, Medium and The New Yorker. Currently he is represented as a director by the London based animation studio BlinkInk.
Many an accomplished animator has cut their teeth on Music Promos, and often they are a testing ground for new techniques- think about Michel Gondry’s infinite temporal loops or how Aardman’s work on Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer opened up the surreal world of stop motion, or Weirdcore’s glitch-filled work with the Aphex Twin. In a saturated media landscape where everyone who has access to software can animate, what is the state of Music Videos today? LIAF digs a little deeper than the Top 40 to speak to animators about the process of making a music video in the 2020s.
Chaired by Saint John Walker – Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios, the UK’s leading VFX, Games and Animation industry training institution in the heart of London.
Recommended Age: 15+
Panellists
Chair: Saint John Walker - Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios
Saint is the author of the Core Skills of VFX Handbook and has designed and run VFX courses across the UK. He has been LIAF’s industry panel coordinator and chair for several years, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. At Escape he has chaired panel discussions for the annual VFX Festival, and has taken part in many Access:VFX activities online and in person.
Andrew Khosravani
Originally from a mixed Brazilian and Iranian background Andrew’s work sits at the intersection of various techniques, visuals and perspectives. Starting off his career as an illustrator he developed a strong visual style before going into animation, giving his work a friendly, loose style that bridges the gap between illustration and motion. Having worked on a range of projects such as music videos, shorts, advertising and science communication his success is reflected in multiple awards including 8 Vimeo Staff Picks. His work spans a range of techniques but the driving force is a desire to communicate often complicated ideas through unique imagery and design.
Phil Tidy
Phi has produced hundreds of music videos all over the world with some of the largest production companies, directors and brands. He has produced music videos for Goldfrapp, the Rapture, H5, the Go Team and Ed Harcourt. He is also co-curator of the BUG Music Video Show, hosted by Adam Buxton, which has been running for 14 years as a bi-monthly showcase of creative talent in collaboration with the BFI and has featured special shows with Radiohead, Moby, Unkle, Fatboy Slim, Warp Records and Ninja Tune.
Ed Bulmer
Ed Bulmer is an award-winning director and animator based in London. He studied Directing Animation at the National Film and Television School, graduating in 2018, and has since continued to make short films, commercials and music videos. Ed’s work is filled with humour and a playful surreality in everyday situations. Applying a mixed media approach to his work, from 2D and 3D animation to live action puppetry and model making, he creates rich and immersive worlds in which his characters live.
Raman Djafari
Raman is an illustrator, animator and filmmaker working in both 2D and 3D, currently living in Hamburg, Germany. Through colourful imagery and fragmented narratives he is hoping to reach into a realm of honest emotionality and willful fragility, creating surreal worlds and characters that oscillate between the familiar and the fantastical. He has directed music videos for artists from across the globe, working with labels such as Universal, Warp Records and Downtown Records, as well as other clients like Adult Swim, Medium and The New Yorker. Currently he is represented as a director by the London based animation studio BlinkInk.