BAFTA nominated animation director Joseph Wallace has created a cinematic new stop motion music video for the legendary American pop band, Sparks. ‘Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)’ is the latest single to be released from the band’s new album ‘Hippopotamus’, out 8th September on BMG.
Sparks - Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me) (official music video) from Joseph Wallace on Vimeo.
The video, which features the band (Californian brothers Ron and Russell Mael) immortalized in puppet form, was made in only six weeks and is brought to life with Joseph’s recognisable blend of wiry puppets, cardboard sets and painted backgrounds. Pairing his visually arresting animation with Sparks' musically uplifting, yet lyrically melancholic track, Joseph has created a stunning Parisian world in which Ron and Russell find themselves in pursuit of something beyond their grasp.
“I didn’t want to illustrate the song too literally as the lyrics were fairly clear and the sentiment was really strong for me, so I tried to create a metaphor that would almost visually score the music and hopefully enhance the meaning of the song. I’ve always had a great fondness for Paris and Parisian culture after having studied and worked there, so the video was a chance to explore that world and create something surreal and intriguing in which Ron and Russell could adventure. The brothers really trusted my vision for the piece and consequently gave me a great amount of creative freedom which meant I could create something as detailed and as synthesized with the music as possible in the time I had.”
Joseph Wallace, director
"Perfectly capturing the mood of the song 'Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me),' the video is also a rapturous work of art in its own right. Perhaps Sparks' best video ever."
Ron and Russell Mael, Sparks
Sparks Edith Piaf Behind The Scenes from Joseph Wallace on Vimeo.
SYNOPSIS
Sparks find themselves in 1930s Paris in pursuit of something just beyond their grasp in this meticulously crafted stop motion video by Joseph Wallace.
CREDITS
Song written, performed and produced by Ron and Russell Mael, Sparks
Direction, design, story, cinematography, edit - Joseph Wallace
Animation - Joseph Wallace, Roos Mattaar, Aiden Whittam
Puppets - Roos Mattaar, Joseph Wallace
Sets - Aiden Whittam, Katrina Hood, Heather Colbert, Joseph Wallace, Roos Mattaar, Mary Murphy Retouching - Milán Kopasz
Production Company - Cardel
Thanks - Simon Tytherleigh, John Wright, UWE, Dik Downey, Charlotte Dubery, James Hadrill, Dean Sudron, Nigel Wallace, Alice Saey
© BMG Rights Management Ltd (UK) 2017
JOSEPH WALLACE BIO
Joseph Wallace is a BAFTA Cyrmu nominated animation and puppetry director. His short films have received acclaim and screened at festivals internationally as well as receiving Vimeo Staff Picks. Joseph has written and directed for theatre, created animated projections for stage and worked as a puppetry consultant and dramaturg. In 2015 he was made a BBC Performing Arts Fellow and in 2017 won the Visegrad Animation Forum. He attended the prestigious training course Animation Sans Frontieres, is active as a writer and lecturer, and curated the film programme of the 2015 Bristol Festival of Puppetry.
