RUN THE JEWELS Early

Credits

“Everyday I’m in a fight for my soul.”

In Fall 2014, Run the Jewels released their critically-acclaimed sophomore album. My friends and I were already huge fans, and we were dying to work with them. So we reached out, offering our services in the form of an animated music video for the new album, and— holy shit, it actually worked!

This was the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Killer Mike

Killer Mike’s verse came with a very clear, very powerful narrative. An unnecessary arrest leads to a heartbreaking tragedy.

El-P

El-P’s verse dealt with more abstract themes: paranoia fueled by technology, phony politicians, and a world seemingly gone mad. Remarkably prescient (2016, anyone?)

PROCESS

The video for Early brought with it a whole slew of technical challenges. The hi-con vector look proved incredibly tedious to animate in 2d and didn’t offer much flexibility, so 3D was our best option. However, that meant modelling and rigging several characters, including two that needed to resemble the artists!

I had just finished up my first 3D character and now I needed to create almost 10! I had barely any understanding of the 3D character workflow and, frankly, it shows. The modelling and rigging were pretty poor, but this was trial-by-fire and luckily the aesthetic hid a lot. Phew :)

Politician, showing off the shading/lighting process I used.

One of my favorite shots

Mike & El-P rigs. Models were pretty bad, but I think I capture their likeness.