I love the idea of directors making videos for classic songs. Imagine the possibilities, if done right. And this one is very right by me.
"You Only Live Twice" was made for the annual Promax/BDA Conference's Videophonic session, an open challenge where creatives are tasked to pick a pre-MTV song and create a video for it. The song is a beauty and so is this clip, showing that your imaginary life can still be euphoric, even when you're in the most dire situation.
Scott Friedman, co-director: We were excited to experiment with using VFX and CG elements in a very emotional, intimate and visceral way to tell our story rather than the typical big budget explosions and cliche effects.
We were really drawn to the haunting string sounds that open this song and persist throughout. The lyrics focus on second chances and missed opportunities and we wanted to create a visual story that would give new context to the music in an unexpected way.
The image of a lost astronaut came to mind almost immediately and taking a cue from the 60s era song, we angled to give the video a retro-futuristic vibe and that helped guide the art direction and visual development along the way.
The shoot was in the desert in 105 degree heat so it was very easy for our astronaut to get into character in those grueling conditions. Everyone on the crew stuck it out as we battled the elements, a sand-trapped grip truck and a run-in with a park ranger. It was an intense post-process with a ton of VFX shots and a quick turnaround but we're very happy with the end result.
This was our 2nd year participating in the Videophonic panel at Promax/BDA. The assignment called for us to create a music video for a song that came from the pre-MTV era and give it the video it deserves. We were excited to be included alongside some other great design and animation studios like Roger, Big Machine, Click3x and others.
