Los Angeles-based inventive studio and manufacturing firm, Methods & Means, are adept at bringing a short to life. Upon co-founding the company in 2012, Lana Kim has labored as a producer throughout every thing from music movies, to movies and commercials, for manufacturers together with Spotify, Nike and Dior.
‘As quickly as I noticed the storyboards, I knew I needed to be part of bringing this concept to life,’ says Kim, upon being approached by Jaime Gerin, Olivia Rodrigo’s inventive director, and co-director for The Remedy music video. ‘Jaime had written on the storyboards “I can’t stress sufficient that your complete hospital is made out of arts and crafts”, and that word was very a lot taken to coronary heart. A lot cardboard and yarn!’
The making of ‘The Remedy’ music video, by Olivia Rodrigo
The place did the concept for the hospital set originate?
Lana Kim: As Jaime listened to the tune, she envisioned Olivia as a nurse trapped in a cycle, experimenting on hearts, and unravelling herself within the course of – so a hospital made sense. It was our little handmade hospital!
The challenges have been actually the large endeavor of constructing this set and ensuring that everybody on the crew was aligned on how one can obtain these photographs. Fortunately, we had an unbelievable crew that made all of it appear like a breeze.
That stability between sensible and digital was all the time a part of the dialog from the start. Digital results have been solely used to complement and improve the handmade really feel. The units have been absolutely handmade, and the weather hand animated, however to mix these worlds, we would have liked some CG. So we partnered up with our pals at Fake VFX to seamlessly incorporate the cease movement work with the dwell motion, and improve the world we had already constructed and captured in-camera.
Olivia Rodrigo along with her cardboard guitar
(Picture credit score: Cloudy Tots)
What was the expertise of working with cease movement?
Working with cease movement animation is all the time so magical. Animation is filmmaking distilled to its purest kind – motion body by body coming to life proper earlier than our very eyes. Having (our different co-director) Cat Solen’s experience made all of the distinction. She has a uncommon means to attract emotion out of an inanimate object.
How did you stability the symbolic and sensible right here, akin to with the yarn and the unravelling?
The unravelling was actually the climax of the video, so we needed to be sure that everybody was aligned on how one can make that occur. It took many many conferences with Cat and Jaime, Liam our manufacturing designer, the animation crew, and VFX crew to align to be sure that occurred seamlessly. What you see within the video is a mixture of puppeteers pulling yarn that was hooked up to Olivia on set, and a few stop-motion yarn that we shot throughout publish manufacturing. All enhanced by CG and VFX.
Olivia Rodrigo within the hospital set
(Picture credit score: Cloudy Tots)
What particulars did you get pleasure from specializing in?
My favorite a part of the working room set was the glass block home windows, which have been produced from plastic take-out containers. Liam Moore, our unbelievable Manufacturing Designer, actually introduced that spirit to even the smallest of particulars. A whole lot of the stop-animated “liquid” within the beakers are beads from Jaime’s private bead assortment.
Constructing the crew is all the time the most effective half – so many individuals concerned which are simply so passionate and unbelievable at what they do. Total, there have been greater than 125 individuals who labored on the venture and helped make this video: from our manufacturing designer and the artwork crew to the set, prop, and miniature designers and fabricators, wardrobe, hair and make-up, manufacturing crew, to the DP and digital camera crew, lighting technicians and grips, drivers, cease movement animators, editor, VFX artists and colourist.
How intently did you’re employed with Olivia on this venture?
Regardless of capturing different movies, internet hosting SNL and doing press, Olivia was very concerned all through your complete course of. Taking a look at references, mockups, and storyboards, giving enter every step of the best way. She is one busy lady!
