3D Modeller Fergal Brennan just finished up a side project filming the new music video for the Voids track 'Knowing'. The result is a beautifully haunting visual piece - find out how he put it all together:

I shot 'Knowing' earlier in the year with the Voids down in Galway. I was a bit nervous as it was my first attempt at a live action piece and I had a limited time frame to get all the shots I wanted. However with the help of Luke Daly of Bold Puppy productions who supplied and operated the camera, we were able to complete our schedule on time.

We shot the whole thing in a day, prepping the studio and getting lights in the morning from 11am and shooting until 6pm. It was a long day, but thankfully Luke was able to work rapidly to get things set up well.

I wrote a short treatment for Voids which was fairly loose, as I wanted to shoot some basic footage and then experiment loads in the post production stage.

This experimentation started with initial mock ups of frames in Photoshop, which then progressed to After Effects comps once they started working. As always the project could have used more pre-production time, but since I knew I would be working on it part time I wanted to move things along rapidly to offset the inevitable delays.

I completed the FX and post production work at home. The footage was comped in After Effects and supplemented with 3D in the mask sections. This involved blending renders of the original 3D model of the mask which we used to make it, back into the initial raw footage, and motion tracking it on. We shot the footage at 50fps with Alison singing at double speed (a skill she immediately excelled at), and slowed it down to give her performance a dreamy, smooth quality.

I wouldn’t have been able to make the video without the skills I learned studying animation, in particular the use of Maya and After Effects. I wanted the piece to feel a little bit like a live-action/animation hybrid, hence the sparse, framed compositions and heavy contrast. In fact the visual style is much more influenced by animators and visual artists than contemporary live-action music videos.

It can be hard to maintain focus on a side project like this; when you're working full time the last thing you want to do is sit down at your computer and work some more in your spare time. But I chipped away at it and I'm really happy with the result.

Andrew and Alison from the Voids, were great to work with, and hopefully the video can play a part in promoting their music and getting people out to their shows!

Check out the music video below:

Hope you enjoy it!