A recreation of Paramore's "Hard Times" music video, using live-action footage and 2D animation.
From live-action, to animated, to a mix of both!
Created in After Effects, DaVinci, Toon Boom and Premiere Pro.
I've always loved seeing live-action mixed with 2D animation, just like what Paramore does for their "Hard Times" music video. I figured I would try and recreate it! With a small team of only three others (two actors and a camera operator), we were able to create the videos above! All of the editing and animations were done by myself, and I even appear in the music video as Hayley Williams herself.
This was one of the most difficult projects I have ever worked on, partly due to the amount of time it took to complete, but also partly because everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
We had one night only to film, so I packed all of the film equipment into my car.... and then my car broke down. I had to call AAA twice to fix my car and make it to the filming location. Once I finally arrived at the set, I found out that a majority of the cast hadn't shown up.
Since we could not reschedule, I decided to change course. Oringally, I was planning on directing/operating a camera, but instead I stepped in to play the role of Hayley Williams since we needed one more actor. I had been meticulously studying Paramore's music video, drawing storyboards of every frame, and I knew all of the dance moves by heart. It was a long night, but with a amazing team beside me (and many deep breathes) we were able to create something awesome. I truly owe the success of filming to my team; they were ready to adapt to all of the last-minute changes and stayed on set as long as it took to get everything done.
That night taught me the values of solid communication, teamwork and being ready to pick up any role at the drop of a hat. It's good to prepare for anything so that you can be ready to jump in and help during moments like that!