The Meeps: Love Louder
The Meeps: Love Louder is the first animated music video I’ve ever worked on. It was both a rewarding and a challenging project for me! Rewarding because of the unique experience. Challenging because I had to throw out some of the rules I’ve learned in cinematography.
Olivier Staphylas directed this piece. He wanted the video to feel as though it were being filmed by an amateur camera operator. Allowing the characters to walk along the bottom of the frame is usually a no-no for the tangents it creates. But, I had to suck it up and let it slide to achieve the amateur camera operator effect.
The cool thing about this project is the unique camera moves we had to figure out. The first unique camera was to mimic a speed-ramped drone footage shot. It’s the camera that pulls back to reveal the HOLLYWOOD sign. To achieve this look, I extended the frame range to be over 600 frames long. I let the camera travel at the same speed throughout the shot, leaving its camera shake intact. This allowed me to put the camera in the time editor to create the speed ramp. The effect looks very much like the drone footage that we referenced for the shot!
Another unique camera move was the TikTok camera tracking effect. Greg Rizzi rigged the camera to Axel’s hips so that Axel’s movement drove the camera. It was a little tricky to figure out at first, but the effect turned out well!
If you enjoy the video and need any help with Previs | Layout, I would love to give you and your team a hand.
Visit Animation Magazine if you would like to read more about the project.