We were monkeys

The first time I learned about We Were Monkeys was when they created the music video for 'Little Talks' 'by Of Monsters And Men. It literally blew me away and I was jealous to the bone. I must have watched it 25 times that night, absorbing every frame, every detail, and each time I see it again, I discover some new details.

We were Monkeys is the collaboration between director Mihai Wilson and producer Marcella Moser. The duo is heavily focussed on experimentation and constantly explores new combinations of live action, 3D, illustration, set instruction, matte painting and photography. Or simply put: they use pretty much every toy in the toy box. I've been a fan of their work ever since that music video, watch it below.

When I make a music video, I don't make it for the fans, or the people that already love the music. I make it for those who don't know the band or even those who don't like the particular music genre. It's so easy to become in love with a song if you became in love with the music video, and let's face it: a music video is in fact a commercial for a band, aimed at getting more people to dig your music and buy tickets to your concerts.

That said, when I heard 'Little Talks' on the radio, I didn't immediately run to the store to buy the album, I thought is was ok, and had a fun melody and vibe to it. Yet, when I saw the video, the song was catapulted to my 'summer vibe playlist'.

The design on the video is brilliant! Beautiful backgrounds and matte paintings are crafted into a 2.5D universe, parallaxing as the camera moves through them. The band members are 2D animated characters with their real heads on top, moving in line to the music. A black and white multiverse opens up, with beautifully textured sets going from rocky cliffs to dangerous underwater worlds, with equally dangerous creatures.

And now for something completely different

This combination of elements occurs in a lot if work by WWM, for more, you could check out their portfolio here. They created the beautiful motion graphic for Hendrick's Gin as well. With some fat winks to the animation work Tery Gilliam did for Monthy Python. (The commercial is even called 'Something different'.) But, I'm not really sure about the story, though. The main message of the theme pretty much says: if you're bored: DRINK! Pretty sure I would have chosen another angle...