Director Chris Ullens, who recently signed with Friends Electric, embraces all the imperfections of lo-fi stop-motion in this splash of dark comedy for American pop singer GAYLE and her ode to conflicted emotions and nightmare neighbors.

Describing the video as “Celebrity Deathmatch meets Groundhog Day”, Friends Electric reveals the production was a work of spontaneous inspiration shot over four weeks at Clapham Road Studios in London but the schedule did not allow for any post-production beyond color correction.

Chris Ullens: “The measuring tape scenario was never meant to happen as the scene I initially planned was impossible in the time and budget we had. Panicking slightly, I took a zombie walk at 11 pm through Clapham Road Studios to make myself a coffee and it was then that I had my eureka moment.

“There was a measuring tape in the workshop (and you can see the measuring tape in the video says ‘Clapham Road Studios’) that fitted the white miniature chair from our set perfectly, and I thought the mechanics of a measuring tape would make for a fun playful death. So yeah, inspiration is all around you, even when you’re a caffeinated zombie”.
 

 
Artist: GAYLE
Video Commissioner: Trevor Joseph Newton

Director: Chris Ullens
Producer: Jade Bogue
Animator/editor: Chris Ullens
Director of Photography: Jamie Durand
Art Director: Brin Frost
Lead Model Maker: Beattie Hartley
Model Maker: Connor Chung, Rosie Tonkin
Character 3D printing: Julian Clark Studios
Grade: Matthew James Day
Directors rep: Friends Electric

Studio: Clapham Road Studios

Special thanks: Daisy Garside