PostPanic and Fons Schiedon get dark for SBTRKT
'NEW DORP. NEW YORK.' gets the PostPanic treatment with director Fons Schiedon's take on SBTRKT's latest release.
23 SEPTEMBER 2014, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS SEPTEMBER 2014
Summary
PostPanic director Fons Schiedon's music promo for 'NEW DORP. NEW YORK.' is a subtle, shadow-filled surreal take on the American metropolis, with SBTRKT's creature taking the lead.PostPanic director Fons Schiedon's music promo for New Dorp. New York is a subtle, shadow-filled surreal take on the American metropolis, with SBTRKT's creature taking the lead.
A fully 3d animated short, it gave Schiedon the opportunity to work closely with the musician and his creative collaborator, A Hidden Place, imagining what kind of world their creature would inhabit. PostPanic and London based Young Turks had been looking for an excuse to creatively collaborate with each other and Schiedon's particular sense of story-telling within animation, appealed to Young Turks artist, SBTRKT. 'NEW DORP. NEW YORK.' is the 1st release from SBTRKT's new album 'Wonder Where We Land' and features Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig paying cryptic lyrical tribute to the Big Apple.
Schiedon on working with SBTRKT, 'SBTRKT is simply one of the most interesting artists I know of. I can try and fail to describe what it is about the music that is appealing and relevant to the video I made. But it really comes down to a feeling about something that, in the case of this track, exists somewhere in a odd parallel world. The music brings up that type of imagery. And then the rest of the story is to try to get that feeling across through a medium that requires very concrete, technical and skillful actions. That might be another similarity to the way SBTRKT's work comes into existence.'
This latest promo is a return to Schiedon's first love of animation and together with a team of talented CG animators/artists, has brought to life the surreal creature which accompanies SBTRKT. Schiedon leads the viewer from the suburbs of New Dorp to the familiar landscape of New York, following SBTRKT's creature as it moves between shadows and lights surveying its urban domaine. Throughout the video, the SBTRKT creature finds out what he is. Starting out as a somewhat marginal creature and not sure if he's being hunted or the hunter. As he moves through the urban landscape he learns that he's actually at the top of the foodchain. This process is visualized by his physical presence evolving, from small and jumpy to extremely large and dominant. In the end, there is no anxiety, just the animal present in his confidence.
Schiedon, "Animation allows for complete control of a vision. Because the framework you create is mostly related to its own reality, and not to the photorealistic reality we all live in, the fantastical can naturally coexist with the mundane. That allows for a subjective view where a big creature in a cityscape is preoccupied by himself and his hunt, and where the human presence is merely suggested. To him of no importance, then to us, visually, also of no importance."
Credits:
Production Company: PostPanic
Director: Fons Schiedon
Producer: Liene Berina
Executive Producer: Ania Markham
Senior 3D: Floris Vos
Character Animator: Max Stoehr
Character Rigger: Bas Hesen
Character Modeller: Alex Doss
3D: Roman van der Haven, Fons Schiedon, Juri Agostinelli
Compositing: Fons Schiedon, Floris Vos
Technical Supervision: Ivor Goldberg, Jeroen Aerts
Fons Schiedon (1980) is a Dutch director/visual artist who currently splits his time between Berlin and New York. His work is internationally recognized and has been featured by publications such as The Guardian, ELEPHANT and Cartoon Brew, by festivals such as Onedotzero, Festival de Cannes, Pictoplasma, Annecy and SIGGRAPH and broadcast internationally by PBS, BBC, ARTE, ZDF and others. Schiedon's dry humour coupled with his trade-mark tiny, bizarre (human) touches has gathered an eclectic fanbase in the creative community and he's enjoyed exhibitions worldwide including Kunsthal Charlottenburg (Copenhagen), MU (Eindhoven), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Concrete Hermit (London) and Jonathan Levine (New York) amongst others.
PostPanic is an Amsterdam-based creative studio best known for its uncompromising creative attitude. Founded in 1997, the studio is home to an international team directing and producing work across its 3 sister labels: PostPanic Commercials, PostPanic Pictures and the PanicProgram.
Relevant links
Quotes
"The music has a tremendous dark undertone and a sort of untouchable quality. It pushes on with force, but at the same time remains mysterious and illusive. I wanted to reflect that in the visual direction, which is moody and noir, but also quite synthetic. It's unapologetic about being a digital representation. We refer to elements from the New York area and cultural lexicon, but have them appear quite isolated and reduced, as if observed by alien eyes. There is a gradual shift of focus embedded in the visual direction that aligns with the change of the creature. The creature is shown in silhouette for more than half of the video. We only have him step into the light halfway through, which gives him a certain power and triggers a sequence that is at first bold and aggressive, but ends in tranquility. " Fons Schiedon, Director, PostPanic (on creative treatment)
"Animation allows for complete control of a vision. Because the framework you create is mostly related to its own reality, and not to the photorealistic reality we all live in, the fantastical can naturally coexist with the mundane. That allows for a subjective view where a big animal in a cityscape is preoccupied by himself and his hunt, and where the human presence is merely suggested. To him of no importance, then to us, visually, also of no importance." Fons Schiedon, Director, PostPanic (on working with animation)
"SBTRKT is simply one of the most interesting artists I know of. I can try and fail to describe what it is about the music that is appealing and relevant to the video I made. But it really comes down to a feeling about something that, in the case of this track, exists somewhere in a odd parallel world. The music brings up that type of imagery. And then the rest of the story is to try to get that feeling across through a medium that requires very concrete, technical and skillful actions. That might be another similarity to the way SBTRKT's work comes into existence. " Fons Schiedon, Director, PostPanic (on working with SBTRKT)
"We've been looking for an excuse to do a project with Young Turks as they share very similar creative attitudes to us here at PostPanic. Both Young Turks and PostPanic are made up of relatively small teams by industry standards but the creative ambitions from both sides are enormous so it's nice to work with like-minded folk who also aim high. " Ania Markham, Executive Producer, PostPanic
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About PostPanic
PostPanic is an internationally awarded and respected Dutch film company.
PostPanic is made up of three divisions: PostPanic (commercial film), PanicProgram (emerging commercial talent) and PostPanic Pictures (long format film).
Founded in 1997, PostPanic closely guards its unique creative attitude and continues to produce memorable visual work for the advertising, entertainment, broadcast, retail and music industries worldwide.
The Amsterdam home is made up of a permanent international team composed of producers, directors and creatives specializing in live action, motion graphics/animation, VFX and installations. PostPanic also host and curate the popular bi-annual inspiration evenings, The PanicRoom (an invite-only night for the Amsterdam creative community).