When you watch the music video for Eric Clapton’s new song The Call (Director’s Cut above) one word repeatedly comes to mind: nostalgia. Maybe it’s the word “remember” so often repeated in the lyrics of this track off Clapton’s recently released studio album, Meanwhile. But if you’re a visual person at all–and something tells us you are, it’s much more than just words that takes you down memory lane again and again in this work.

“The concept was primarily a feeling,” director Misha Klein told us. “Matt Hazelrig (my DP) and I were chasing the feeling of nostalgia that’s cooked into Eric’s song. I tried to create the look and feel of the early 1980’s on that desk,” he said, referencing the worn wooden desk where much of the video takes place. Bathed in the Kodachrome colors of late day light and holding objects that look like they were pulled right out of someone’s packrat garage, the desk and what it holds do contribute…but it’s more than just props that create this vintage vibe.

“I found old objects like the telephone, tape recorder and record player to establish the period,” he said, but then goes on to add: “We stuck bridal veil behind the lens and a special gel on the front of the lens to alter the images we captured in Dragonframe. I needed to feel the light playing through moving trees, so by introducing elements to the lens and teasing intentional flairs, we were able to get there. I animated plastic shrubs outside the window in three, overlapping layers to create dancing light on all the objects for most of our shots.”

The result feels straight out of childhood memory itself.

Klein went on to elaborate on these moody techniques. “We shot the entire spot at 12 fps to resemble old super 8 film. For me, lower frame rates abstract movement and enhance the romance. Matt and I chose a shallow depth of field so our sharp textures lived in a narrow band. Everything outside of that feels like a dream.

“I was inspired by the opening title sequence from To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), designed by Stephen Frankfurt,” he added and as soon as he does, the homage becomes perfectly clear-of course he was!

As is so often the case for stop motion animators, the biggest challenges for the team were time and money. “This was a very small budget, so we kept our team small. Once the artwork was approved, I only had three weeks to shoot it. Thankfully, Matt and I’ve worked together for over 20 years, so we read each other’s mind at this point.”

For more on the production, check out the BTS pics below: