The latest clip from the band Metronomy blends catchy beats with animated birds – who drive bumper cars. We had a chance to ask the animation supervisor John Joyce about the project.

John Joyce –

The project was both fun and intense.  It was originally supposed to be completed in about a week. Director Lorenzo Fonda wanted a stop motion video from the beginning but do to the original time frame we thought up a variety of techniques that would make the work load more practical.  We were set on doing a pop through of each of the seventy storyboards and dissolving between exposures like a 3D picture book.  However the label wanted animation and in turn pushed the deadline a little.  I brought friend and co worker Max Winston on to the project and he and I spent eight days building the puppets and props at the very generous Screen Novelties (Thanks Guys).

During the build process we were constantly sending in progress photos and designs back and forth with the director.  For the animation we had two stages and six days.  There was around seventy shots and a lot of them called for all three puppets at once.  Each day Max and I figured out our shot lists and tried to get about 30 seconds of animation.  It was pretty crazy, thankfully the DP Justin Gurnari was stealthy between setups and kept us moving quickly.  One of the reasons I entered the animation world was to collaborate with other artists who shared the same passions. In hindsight the project was pretty down and dirty compared to the way stop motion projects are typically planned and executed but in turn it created an opportunity for us all to work in a more spontaneous creative fashion.  The end result is something we are all proud of.

Here is a fun making-of time-lapse:

Some pics: