Synopsis

Hand drawn and computer generated imagery is coupled with the music of Aimee Mann to tell a simple story of love on the sidelines.

Background

In December 2000, I boldly contacted Aimee Mann's manager and asked for his permission to do an interpretation of the song - which comes from her recent-at-the-time album Bachelor No.2.

To my surprise, he was enthusiastic and actually sent me a slew of press materials to assist in the project.

My process was very similar to what I had just done with Fansom the Lizard - characters and backgrounds were hand drawn in my sketchbook. These graphics were then scanned, cleaned up in Photoshop, and traced in Illustrator. These EPS files were then imported in After Effects where all the animation was composited. These compositions - varying in length per the shot as outlined in my storyboards - were exported as QuickTime clips and imported into Final Cut Pro. Here were added titles and transitions and music and sound effects. The final product is then rendered in various QuickTime versions for viewing on the web, television, et cetera.

A somewhat involved project, Red Vines took about eight months to complete - encompassing a move from Seattle to Los Angeles and the tumult that goes with that.

Near the end, I showed a near-finished product to Aimee's manager - who made a comment that my eyebrow design made her look evil. Funny, but I made the tweak - and the video is now hosted on the official Aimee Mann web site. Not too shabby for a spec job.

A year or so later, I ran into Aimee at a record signing and introduced myself to her and her manager. They were overwhelming positive about the whole experience, so I decided to do another.

NB: after watching my video for Red Vines, check out the cover art for her next album Lost In Space.