Director Léa Esmaili, freshly signed to BlinkInk last fall, lets loose her inner maniac in this bizarro mashup of live-action, CG, and stop-motion, a perfect next step in the evolving eccentricities of American singer/songwriter Ashnikko.

Esmaili’s film follows Ashnikko’s equally over the top 2023 “Worms” video by fellow BlinkInk director Raman Djafari who handled CG character design duties on this project.
 

Léa Esmaili: “Working on this project was like someone saying ‘yes’ to all your craziest ideas.”

 
From BlinkInk: “The video follows a parade of eccentric Ashnikko alter-egos, each with a deep affection for their eclectic collections of bizarre and beloved objects. Blending live-action with bursts of playful stop-motion [directed by Renee Zhan] and CG, the video unfolds as a series of surreal and richly stylized vignettes.

Léa Esmaili: “Working on this project was like someone saying ‘yes’ to all your craziest ideas. It’s the best of both worlds between Ash and me and it feels so refreshing to have this freedom with such big artists. It’s one of my favorite works ever.”
 
 

 
Artist: Ashnikko
Label: Parlophone Records
Video Commissioner: Imran Malik
Artist Management: George Shepherd

Production: BlinkInk
Director: Léa Esmaili
Animation Director: Renee Zhan
EP: Josef Byrne
Head of Production: Alex Halley
Producer: Maddy Williams, Jake River Parker
Production Manager: Charlie Herbert
DOP: Joe Gainsborough
DOP (Stop Motion): George Warren
VFX Supervisor: Stephen McNally
CG Character Design: Raman Djafari
CG Character Animation: Klaas Boeur
CG Character Lighting and Rendering: Barnaby Abrahams
CG Environment Build: Mike Luard
2D Animator: Alina Besanidou
Stop Motion Animator: Steve Warne, Honor Price
Puppet Maker: Catherine Prowse
Puppet Maker Assistant: Emma Niemis
Clean Up: Weiden Wong, Reg Isaac
Titles and Credits: Radheya Jegatheva
1st AC: James Wick
2nd AC: Joe Medlock
1st AD: Freddie Wright
2nd AD: Beth Jespersen
DIT: Alicia Stroud
Grip: Jay Mathews
Playback Operator: Remy Trafford
Gaffer: Charlie Relph
Spark: Gianni Morreale, Sam Cheal, Romy Roulin
Production Designer: Sehar Kidwai
Art Department Assist: Edoardo Parada, Alex Smith, Christian Johnsons, Max Stranger, Jordan Chandler
Prop Maker: Areeya Bass
Runner: Radheya Jegatheva, Divine-Favour Owoola

Post: Blinkink
Animatic Editor: Radheya Jegatheva
Character Designer: Daniel Tarrant, Bárbara Oliveira
Concept Design: Camille Perrin, Tiago Calliari
Storyboards: Theo Scott
Editor: Ruby Cara Sandler
Lead Compositor: Tom Fisher
Compositor: Ross McDowell, Corinne Ladeine, Daniel Hawkins, Maria Tedemalm
Rotoscoping: Team Digital

VFX: Artist Building
VFX Supervisor: Shivam Solanki
VFX Producer: Yash Agrawal
VFX: 2xvroum, Jyhakin

Color: Studio RM
Colorist: Jack McGinity
EP: Mike Coley
Color Producer: Ella Hill