Behind The Grammys 2024 Best Music Video ‘I’m Only Sleeping’
We all dream of that moment when our work gets awarded on the big stage, but for Em Cooper and the Jelly London team, this transpired into reality at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
In this age of AI, automation and advanced technology, a band formed back in the ‘60s and a music video hand painted with 1,300 images took away the ‘Best Music Video’ prize. It’s quite a statement, and shows the dedication of the director and team who brought the whole thing together.
So, to hear about the process behind the project, we speak to director Em Cooper, Jelly London’s executive producer Sue Loughlin and head of production Laura Thomas, all of whom worked on the spot. They share the process, and their reactions to winning, with LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> A massive congratulations on your Grammy win for Best Music Video! How did it feel to be recognised for it and what were your first thoughts when it was announced?
Sue> It was amazing. You always hope you have a chance but the competition was really strong. Each of the other films were strong for different reasons. It was no easy win, so to hear our film being named as the winner was amazing. My arms went straight up into the air… stoked!
Laura> Overjoyed! I had a feeling deep down that we would win. It’s so unique compared to the others in the category, the win is so well deserved.
Em> It was such a shock. I haven’t got words to describe the feeling. I never in a million years imagined we would win. I was basically sitting there waiting to clap for Billie Eilish (whose work and video I love).
LBB> How did the project come about and what was the process of starting to work on the project? What were your initial ideas for how it should be visualised?
Sue> We were contacted by Universal Music with a potential project. They were looking for painterly, art-based animation so we sent Em’s work over. They loved it and it all started from there. We pitched in the usual way. Em developed her idea based on the lyrics and research of the meanings within the song. The pitch process was quite long as there were so many key stakeholders; Paul and Ringo, then George Harrison and John Lennon estates, Universal and AppleCorp all feeding back so it ate into the start of the production period.
Em> The song is so beautiful. I only had to listen back to it once, that evening when the email came in, to find an entire painted animation playing in my head. It didn’t feel in any way forced, it just felt as though this painted song had always existed: rising, falling, lulling you this way and that way in perfect synchrony with the melody. The only difficulty then was to try to capture what was in my head and attempt to make that a reality.
LBB> Creating 1,300 individual oil paintings to create the video is no easy feat. Where did the process of creating each frame begin and what was the timescale like?
Em> Yes, it was a labour of love, but as an oil paint animator, painting each frame is part of my practice and is quite normal for me. I usually start at the beginning and literally work through until the end, or at least to a moment of pause or a moment where some part of the movement concludes. It is much easier to do if I stay in the zone and try not to question or think too much and just work intuitively, getting into the flow of the work.
LBB> What kind of emotion did you want to bring out with the paintings and how did that play into the stylisation of the imagery?
Em> This is an interesting question. My own sense is that the song already carries a powerful emotion - it feels exactly like that place between sleeping and wakefulness, where there is both a place for surrealism and humour, but also a tug of something a little deeper and more unconscious, with room to connect to something really profound. I’m hopeful that the animation remains open enough to allow the viewer to connect with the emotion of the song in a diversity of ways without closing off any one way of inhabiting it.
LBB> How did the paintings play into the storytelling which takes place in the song? What was the trickiest aspect of blending the two together?
Em> For me there are at least two aspects to each of the images - there is both what they are of, but there is also the way that they move. I have recently discovered that the movement of each of my painted shots is almost more important than the thing I’m painting. And getting the two to work perfectly in harmony is when it suddenly feels like the whole thing resonates. The storytelling works with the repetition that is inherent in the song, and we start with a feeling of being rooted in 1966, but we end with a sense that John’s sleeping is positioned in a more profound place.
LBB> Speaking of blending, each image seamlessly follows into the other. Can you talk us through the editing process of blending to make it feel surreal yet keep the artistic flourishes?
Em> I choreograph the shots very meticulously to start with, which for me means gathering a strong sense of how the movement will flow from shot to shot. Sometimes this is difficult to communicate to others, but in this instance, I created a pencil-drawn animatic, which hopefully gave a sense of roughly how the main movement would flow. The animation itself is not edited, I just focus all my energies on trying to get the fluid movement of the shot right the first time and hope that I manage it. If I am unhappy I start over again and repaint an entire sequence.
LBB> How does this style translate into a commercial setting?
Em> It is not easy to translate this method into a commercial setting especially when clients have expectations of being able to change things at a whim. We have developed a unique workflow to work commercially and we hope that clients will understand this. Working with The Beatles and their estates, Jonathan Clyde at Apple Corps and Sophie Hilton at Universal Music was wonderful in this regard, there was a strong sense of trust. They sent me off very positively to make the film, and there were only the tiniest of tweaks made at the end. They really know how to get the best out of the creative people who work with them.
Sue > The process works really well on commercial projects. Having worked with Em for over 12 years, Jelly has developed a specific production process which we have fine-tuned over time. It takes into account her unique technique, the fluidity of her painting from shot to shot and the need to continue the painting without stopping. We have used this production process successfully on all of Ems commercial projects including ‘Im Only Sleeping’.
We explain to the client very early on how Em works, about her unique requirements and usually, if an agency and a client like Em’s work, they will accept this production method. An important part of the process is the time we build into the schedule for Em to work closely with the agency/client creative team. It’s an important part of the process which helps the client to understand Em’s ideas and her work. This time allows a working relationship to develop and the mutual trust which is required for this kind of work.
With the number of successful commercial projects completed it has become easier for a client to understand and to buy into the process. The usual time frame we like to allow for a 30-second piece with Em would be around 9-12 weeks.
LBB> What was the most challenging aspect of bringing everything together?
Em> Getting John’s likeness right as he rolled over on the bed, was the biggest challenge for me. I had to do that shot multiple times. It was a big responsibility - we are so attuned to recognise faces, that even a single brush-stroke out and the whole likeness is gone. To take that on, eight oil paintings per second, is a lot of work. I found that I became very familiar with his features. I even had print-outs of his mouth, sellotaped to my walls at one point!
LBB> The very end of the video gives us a glance into the process behind the scenes. Why was it important to incorporate this shot?
Em> In our initial discussions it was mentioned that it would be nice to incorporate a layer of meaning into the film which had a nod to the painstaking way it was made. To me, it feels like it concludes the film in the present moment, and gives us a new perspective with which to understand the positions of The Beatles in the film.
LBB> From a production perspective, how was the process managed with the client and what were the main challenges or considerations?
Laura> The main challenge was the time frame, as we would have ideally had double the amount of time. We had a short pre-production prep stage, where I organised the resource footage, which was a mixture of archival images and video clips, mostly from Universal’s library. I also organised a shoot for the footage that we needed that couldn’t be sourced and needed a particular perspective. We then allocated the main chunk of the schedule for the painted animation to be done, which we did all in one go, with a week at the end for any feedback and amends. However, due to a variety of reasons, this ended up much shorter than we’d like and Em had to work long days including weekends to hit the deadline. It was a huge challenge to create in the time available.
Another potential challenge was that the film had to be reviewed by all the Beatles estates, as well as Apple Corp and Universal Music. So there could have been countless feedback and adjustments to do, but luckily they were very minimal.
Sue> Then once everything is client-approved we go into production. We keep the client in the loop with regular progress reports but there is usually little or no creative input from the client during this time.
Em paints using oil paint, a frame at a time and we re-emerge with a finished project, there are no WIP stages during the painting/animation process but we do allow some time at the end should there be any client requests or amends. This process works really well and as you can see, with great results.
LBB> The video premiered at the Outernet in London in November of 2022. Why was this setting the ideal fit for the video and what were some of the reactions it garnered?
Sue> It was great to have the video premiere at the Outernet which is a public space free to all passers-by who were able to see the video screened across the massive surround screens there. The public was amazed and it was great to be able to talk to some of them about it. The video was also screened on The Beatles Vevo Channel and has had an enormous amount of positive response.
LBB> What does this win mean for music videos going forward?
Sue> The most important thing to share is that it was the only animated video pitched up against some very strong live-action competition. It's so good to see an animated video in the category but also great to be recognised by the recording academy with a win. It proves the power of animation; that animation directors have strong directorial vision which is worthy of an acclaimed accolade and that animation is a medium that can communicate in a meaningful and powerful way - and in some cases more so than live action.
