Having made a 3D-animated music video in the past using motion capture, I was never fully satisfied with how I utilised it. I only figured out much of the tech a few hours before the band arrived. 

This time, I made sure I had more time with the tech beforehand to actually understand the tools before shooting. At the university, we had a RocoMocap suite sitting unused, so I decided to try it out properly, especially with facial tracking through an iPhone.

One of the big advantages of the Rokoko system is that it doesn’t rely on external IR cameras. That meant the band could use their real instruments without causing tracking issues – unlike my previous shoot, where shiny instrument reflections were a constant problem – meaning they are always a lot of fun. 

I wanted to create fun 3D characters loosely based on the band members. I always like to put in a bit of a narrative in my music videos and wanted the same for this one. Originally, this was planned as a larger follow-up to my previous Be Like Pablo video, Call You Back, with a more ambitious story. But working on it only in my spare time meant the scope had to be scaled back. Instead, I went for a lighter narrative centred on a small space-battle sequence inspired by The Empire Strikes Back and Interstellar.

In the end, the project was about having fun with the tech and pushing myself creatively – improving my eye for aesthetics, lighting, animation, and cinematography. Even with the scaled-back narrative, it gave me the space to experiment and get better at my craft, which is ultimately what I wanted from it.