Interview with Animator
Sil van der Woerd Creator of
"Worms"
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Watch Worms
We loved this live action/3d animated music video that Sil van der Woerd did for Lolly Jane Blue. The art direction and compositing are incredible plus we're simply in awe of how huge the whole production is.
BACKGROUND: In 2005 Sil van der Woerd finished his study Fine Arts (Cum Laude) at the Academy of Art and Design in Arnhem, the Netherlands. At the Academy he started using film and mixed new media, live action video and dominant soundtracks to express his fictitious, atmospheric worlds. In 2004 his short film "Duet" started to gain public attention and had a series of successful festival plays. Then his graduation film "Swim" went global and brought home several awards and nominations. Sil received the Prize for Best Graduating Student from the Academy.
After his studies, Sil spent 7 months in Hollywood, where he entered extensive courses at 'Gnomon, School of Visual Effects'.
Back in the Netherlands, Sil started working on his first music video for the track "Worms", by singer Lolly Jane Blue. "Worms" not only introduced his new directing skills, it also showcased some high-profile visual techniques that were learned during his study in Hollywood. By early January 2008 three of his films were viewed over 1.5 million times on
Youtube.
View Sil's Portfolio
INFLUENCES: I find inspiration in music and nature. Among the artists that left a big imprint on me are Bjork, Alfred Hitchcock, Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki.
WORMS
PROCESS & INSPIRATION:
Since this is a music video I was mainly inspired by the music. Additional inspiration was found in random underwater footage and baroque art.
TECHNIQUES: Worms made use of many different techniques. In a nutshell: live action footage was shot in a blue screen studio, a black studio and in a swimming pool. The footage was then tracked with tracking software, this replicated the camera moves on set into 3d camera moves in the 3d program Maya.
In Maya I built many digital sets, a series of animated creatures such as a flying bird, swimming fish and jellyfish. The animations and digital sets were rendered and combined with the live action footage in After Effects using numerous layers of filters and masks.
TIME REQUIRED: 8 months
CHALLENGES: The main challenge was keeping the project within the extremely tight budget of $1000.
Additionally, almost 2 months were spent on roto scoping. A process that was long and slow. Another challenge was the underwater shoot, since I had never shot underwater before.
WHAT NEXT?
Currently, Sil's latest film: White Swan has wrapped up production and entered post production. White Swan is expected to be released early 2009.
Watch "Worms"
Go to
Sil'S Portfolio