Cute and tidy shop names like Positive Spin Records and a bakeshop selling humble pies are early giveaways that the new Katy Perry Video for her new song, Resilient, will be a break from whatever you’re worried about. Set in a brightly colored Anytown, USA, the piece showcases a Japanese toy-like visual appeal and a pervasively encouraging pace and message that’s clean and easy, like the song it represents.

Resilient was a collaboration between UK based Stop Motion animation studio, KETTU STUDIOS, and LA based director, Aya Tanimura, and production house, Hound Content. Director Tanimura took inspiration from Japanese aesthetic of kokeshi dolls and subjects close to Katy Perry’s life and together with Director-Animator Virpi Kettu (KETTU STUDIOS) they designed a look that was supporting the story of the song.

According to Kettu, “The lockdown was a logistical challenge of trying to find people and also being able to get materials in time. There was a lot of improvising and pivoting to do to get all done in time.  We also took strict measures of precautions ensuring people were able to feel safe during the pandemic. We were all a little nervous about the situation but the project itself kept our spirits up.” Easy to see how it did.

After the initial storyboard and animatic phase the story was locked and the small UK based crew worked two months with the lead of Virpi Kettu in socially isolated bubbles and also through postal service and phone messages. Communication to the director and the label to LA was made weekly with emails and video calls.

The puppets were hand made of sculpting foam and covered with epoxy putty with wire joints and painted with model paints. The sets were made of MDF and sculpting foam and painted. The signs were printed to create a clean toy like look. The animation was shot with Dragonframe with Canon 5D mark II and the post was done in After Effects.

We asked Kettu what’s next and he told us, “The next KETTU STUDIOS project is a Transmedia Story based on local real people and places in North Yorkshire, UK, with a twist that most everyone is a dog. The project is a stop motion animation series with puppets and sets made with wool, and the project includes a location based Augmented Reality mobile app linked to the story.” Find out more about that project at www.dogsdales.com.

To see more on the Resilient production, check out this behind the scenes footage below: