HarryHausen Music Video

For my Multimedia Production Design thesis I created an animated music video for the song “Kevin Bacon” by Harryhausen. The band’s first album was a collaborative release featuring audio and vidual components made by the band members and a few art students. The below music video was released as a visual component for the band’s first album and was also used as graphics during live performances.

The challenge of this project was creating a visual experience which mimicked the auditory experience of listening to "Kevin Bacon" while working within the brand standards developed by designers for print.

PROCESS WORK

Storyboard (left) for the final logo reveal animation (right)

I had never created a feature length animation quite like this before and set out to create a unique piece that created a strong visual identity for Harryhausen, who were looking to rebrand themselves. The colors and shapes I used were inspired by the song's upbeat indie sound.

VISUAL INSPIRATION

When I sat down with the band to talk about the intention of their song "Kevin Bacon," I was told the song was about responsibility. The first verse is rich with clear visual imagery as the group sings about our responsibility to other people, how we must listen to them and take it upon ourselves to communicate openly and honestly. The images of sensory organs—eyes, ears, and lips—came about naturally pulling directly from the song's lyrics.

Original sketches (left) for the eye animation sequence (right)

The second verse is more abstract and focuses on the responsibilities we have to ourselves. The lyrics convey a sense of distress as the subject feels overwhelmed with all the external projects and relationships they have been prioritizing over themselves. I wanted to convey that feeling of having so much to do but not being able to get it all done. Visually this evolved into a sequence of psychedelic tunnels which overwhelm the senses with so much light and color swirling around and a pace the eye can't always keep up with.

THANKS AND CREDITS

In the months leading up to the album release the band contracted several different designers experienced in a range of mediums to help develop different assets for the band. While the vast majority of the piece was my own original ideas, I had the pleasure of working with illustrator Kayla Meier who Harryhausen contracted to create their album cover and lyric book. My final animation would not have been so successful without her portraits of the band and funky space rock pattern used across several promotional platforms.

Album artwork featuring the HarryHausen logo surrounded by portraits of the band members, illustrated by Kayla Meier.

Sample page from the album's lyric book. Illustration by Kayla Meier and book design by Kyle Drumheller.

MERCH DESIGNS

All products and designs were created by me as part of my thesis presentation. Products feature images illustrated by me as well as Meier and Drumheller as seen in the music video.