Conjunto!Evite is a prog/psych rock band from Lisbon.
“Quebra Ossos” is the first single from Conjunto!Evite’s new LP “Penso Logo Desisto”
It’s a song about overcoming obstacles, and pushing through in the face of adversity - which is something resonant to everyone, specially in trying times like these.
The band gave me narrative freedom, presenting me with some ideas of their own. The deadline was fairly good, near to what I’m used to for projects like this (about 3 months from start to finish), so I managed to do what I wanted without sacrificing too much of what I initially proposed.
Process
Concept/Narrative
In an initial meeting, discussing what the band’s expectations were, the band’s members explained to me what the song meant to them, and where the lyrics came from. The main concept behind the song is overcoming difficulties and obstacles.
In an initial meeting, discussing what the band’s expectations were, the band’s members explained to me what the song meant to them, and where the lyrics came from. The main concept behind the song is overcoming difficulties and obstacles.
This is reflected on the lyrics, which I took quite literally in an initial stage. “Como uma corda sobre o Abismo” / “Like a rope over the Abyss” - took the main stage and was an image that I wanted to have on the music video - a character walking a tightrope between two cliffs.
The two cliffs then became a sort of “Present” versus “Future”, the first being confusion and distress, and the second being hopeful clearance and bliss.
I found this in some notes I kept while working on this project:
“Look, this is all very confusing, and you may lose track of who you are. You may scare and hurt yourself, so you should leave.
And when you do, you’ll leave some part of yourself behind.
Good thing is: There are no ghosts in the future”
And when you do, you’ll leave some part of yourself behind.
Good thing is: There are no ghosts in the future”
3D Production
The whole process was the conventional 3D animation pipeline I’ve done in other projects:
Modelling > Texturing & UVs > Rigging & Skinning > Animation > Lighting & Rendering
The main difference in this project was that I wanted to explore making a video mostly in First-Person, having to figure out a rig that worked for it.
The whole process was the conventional 3D animation pipeline I’ve done in other projects:
Modelling > Texturing & UVs > Rigging & Skinning > Animation > Lighting & Rendering
The main difference in this project was that I wanted to explore making a video mostly in First-Person, having to figure out a rig that worked for it.
I also used a bit of Zbrush for modeling and Arnold for rendering, whereas previously I stuck to Cinema4d (or Maya) and their built-in renderers.
The “First Person View” hands were modeled in Zbrush, and then exported into Cinema4D for skinning/texturing/rigging and animation, in the meantime I would hop into other files to make tests and figure out how I could create a camera rig.
The arms would be parented to the camera as they would be to a human torso, in a way that they could follow the camera’s movement, but could still act independently (if your head goes forward, your arms don’t necessarily go forward as well).
Initially I would use Cappucino to record the camera’s movement in real-time, to have a sort of videogame/VR feeling to it - but ended up discarding this technique for lack of control on certain occasions.. (pulling a 180º was quite hard in this manner).
Initially I would use Cappucino to record the camera’s movement in real-time, to have a sort of videogame/VR feeling to it - but ended up discarding this technique for lack of control on certain occasions.. (pulling a 180º was quite hard in this manner).
Below is a video with bits and pieces of the process explained above. The video capture also captured sound, so you can hear what was on heavy rotation during the making of this music video, if you’d like :)
