The Australian animators at OhYeahWow with their second video ‘Rippled’ create a testament to imagination, logistical tenacity and artistic grace. They have continued to refine their inspired style from the more freeform “Lucky”, which won Best Animated Music Video at St Kilda Film Festival and was shortlisted for exhibition at the Guggenheim.

Both pieces for the band All India Radio use puppet animation and light painting and are all shot in camera, frame by frame, using long exposure techniques.

As a continuation from ‘Lucky’, this film follows the same alien cat creature on another nighttime adventure. The raw and whimsical animation set against the desolate industrial background is pure magic. We watch the sun set across pools of dark water and graffiti and the fantastic creature of light emerges and dances across embankments and tunnels and jumps through walls, leaving ripples of energy in it’s wake. Both the film and song evoke the playful finesse of forgotten places. It is so well executed that even the ghost images of the animators weave into the haunting enchantment. The filming took six months and roughly 10,000 frames to complete.

Director/ Animator Darcy Prendergast in a very informative and ‘adventurous’ interview with Lightpaintingphotography.com talks about the process:

“We weren’t shooting every night, but it wasn’t far from it. I think its the first animated piece I’ve ever done where we did multiple re-shoots, planned out camera moves, starting times and things of this nature. After Lucky, we knew we wanted to revisit the medium- but didn’t want to revisit it too soon. We wanted to hone our craft and ensure we were going to push beyond what we thought possible. I guess that is the reason I was so pedantic about it… I knew how good this piece could be if we got it exactly right. That was partly the reason for it taking 6 months to create- that an animation is an inherently slow process.”

–Darcy Prendergast of OhYeahWow

With a little determination, otherworldly can be in your own backyard.