From Daft Punk to Billy Joel: How Warren Fu Transforms Music into Visual Masterpieces
Few directors have as iconic a rise to fame as Warren Fu. From working at Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic straight out of school, to making his directorial debut moonlighting for r&b sensation, Aaliyah, it’s no surprise the Partizan filmmaker has gone on to become one of the most revered visionary talents in music videos.
Surrounded by an array of creativity from animation and illustration, to directing and design, his industry schooling has covered the whole gamut. As a result, Warren is capable of transforming any creative brief into a filmic masterpiece. Over the course of his career so far he has been entrusted with conceptualising videos for chart-topping artists like The Weeknd, Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes, the Killers, Hayley Williams, and Mark Ronson.
Warren’s career trajectory in the short form space serves to inspire the next generation of filmmakers, designers and illustrators. The last twelve months have been particularly momentous for Warren: having crafted Daft Punk’s beautifully poignant final music video; rebranding 7-11’s Slurpee with Flo Milli;, creating a larger than life Dallas Cowboys hype film for AT&T, reimagining Billy Joel through the years for an epic comeback single, and speaking on a panel of fellow music video connoisseurs at this year’s SXSW.
Following all the recent excitement, LBB’s April Summers catches up with the director to talk about his long-standing creative partnerships, why recreating Billy Joel’s likeness using AI was unlike any VFX project he has worked on before and exploring how his approach to music videos continues to evolve with every new creative brief.
LBB> You began your career as an artist at Industrial Light & Magic - which is a pretty incredible starting point. Looking back, what were the most valuable lessons from this period in your life?
Warren> I majored in business and economics at Berkeley, so Lucasfilm was my film school, and I owe so much of my career to my time there. During my time there I was fortunate to have been able to learn about both traditional analogue filmmaking - working with the model shop and shooting miniature sets - as well as working with the CG artists on the burgeoning digital side. But the best thing about it was being able to watch and absorb some of the great artists and craftsmen in the industry: from Iain McCaig, George Hull, Dennis Muren and Doug Chiang, to George Lucas himself.
LBB> Can you tell us about your journey from designer to director? Was it a conscious pivot or a natural transition?
Warren> The turning point for me came when I was working with Aaliyah. I was still employed at ILM at the time, but as a side hustle, I was doing design work for the music industry. So when Aaliyah’s team asked if I could direct an animated commercial based on an illustration I had done for her album package, that was my chance to show that I could execute a vision from beginning to end. Having experience as a storyboard artist helped, because the commercial was essentially like bringing those still images to life with a team of animators.
LBB> Can you recall the directing opportunity that changed the course of your career? What did you learn from this experience?
Warren> I would say Mark Ronson’s “Bang Bang Bang” music video was significant in many ways because it not only was my first music video after getting signed to Partizan, but it also created some industry buzz for my work. It was enough for Daft Punk to take notice.
After that, Thomas and Guy-Man (of Daft Punk) reached out to me to direct their “Derezzed” video, I became part of the core creative team for their album, Random Access Memories. Working on that project was a second film school for me, because they were so insistent on shooting everything analogue so I learned a lot about old school filmmaking techniques. I found that there is a certain magic that happens in shooting with actual film that you cannot replicate digitally.
LBB> What aspect of storytelling would you say you are most passionate about? And why?
Warren> I have a soft spot for stories that depict different interpretations of the passage of time. I am fascinated with how happy moments take on a bittersweet melancholy years later. You can see this in the uplifting billboard forgotten at the bottom of the ocean in The Strokes’ “Ode To The Mets” video, and the mannequins finding each other again decades later after being lost in storage in Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush”.
One of my favourite film moments of all time is the ending of Cinema Paradiso, where Toto discovers a film reel of edited snippets that his mentor Alfredo left for him 40 years ago. I don’t know exactly why I’m so drawn to it. I think when I was 12 years old I already had nostalgia for when I was 11.
LBB> Earlier this year you spoke on a panel about How to Make a Fucking Awesome Music Video at SXSW, are you able to share a golden nugget of wisdom from this discussion?
I believe I gave two half-nugs of advice that day…
1) There is no routine or set method to arrive at an idea for a music video – the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’re free. I have poured over reference books, paced back and forth, analysed lyrics for deeper meaning and played songs over and over. You can come up with what you think is the greatest idea and the artist might pass on it. So at the end of the day, you have to be able to say to yourself, “that one wasn’t for me and it wasn’t meant to be.”
2) Try to work on music videos where you feel a deep personal connection to the song, whether it makes you want to sing, dance, cry, rage, laugh, or punch someone in the face. I feel like my best work comes when I’m really feeling the track. The few times I’ve worked on a video for a song that I didn’t really like were no fun. Especially since you have to hear it repeatedly while writing the idea, shooting on set and 1000 more times in the edit.
LBB> Your latest project with Daft Punk, Infinity Repeating, was also featured in the official selection in the music video program at this year’s SXSW. Where did the idea for this music video concept come from? And how did you align creative visions to ensure the concept felt fitting for the band’s “last ever music video”?
Warren> Thomas and Guy-Man told me that, since this was a long lost demo and not a real “single,” they did not want to shoot anything live-action, especially since they officially disbanded in 2021. So I started thinking about various forms of animation. The concept grew from the idea that a walk cycle is a demo for animators, and walk cycles also have a mesmerising, hypnotic feel, much like the song. I thought it would be interesting to cycle through not only an evolution of animation styles but also the evolution of life itself. The band insisted that they stay out of the creative process to give me free reign - and it was a huge honour to know that they trusted me so much.
The interesting thing about this project was that one of the themes we were focused on was the dangers of our growing dependence on technology, how it feels like we are not just evolving but barreling towards a dangerous fate. Coincidentally, as we were working on the video, Thomas did an interview where he talked about the very same dangers of technology. So after that, the video team and I knew we were aligned with the band and on the right path thematically.
LBB> Given how many music videos you have worked on over the course of your career, I’m curious, do you find yourself dreaming up visuals upon hearing new music? Or do you try to hold off on ideating with the artist before conceptualising a video?
Warren> There are times where I’ll get a track and the management or label will tell me that the artist has a concept in mind already. In those cases I usually try to hold off on conceptualising and, instead, I wait and see what they have in mind. But there are times where I’m REALLY in love with a song and I can’t help myself. I think I have a Fantasia-type brain where I often picture abstract visuals to music. Sometimes I will picture a certain type of choreography, sometimes it’s a camera movement, or an emotion, and occasionally it’s a full story.
LBB> Let’s talk about Turn The Lights Back On - a collaboration both culturally and creatively significant. Can you tell us a bit about working with Billy Joel and Freddy Wexler on this project?
Warren> Columbia Records approached me about collaborating with Freddy Wexler (who also co-wrote the song) to direct the video. They had the idea of recreating Billy at various stages in his life. I was initially wary of utilising anything AI related, but they told me that this was something Billy actually wanted to do, rather than recreating someone’s likeness without their permission. However, the thing that really convinced me to come on board was hearing the song. It was gorgeous. And so I thought, ok, if we can use this technology to create something emotional - hopefully making the audience forget about the technology in the process - then that is a challenge I’m willing to explore.
LBB> What specific new technology was used to bring this vision to life? And how did you utilise these tools?
Warren> The first step was gathering as much reference footage from Billy’s team to feed into the system. Once the trained models from the 70s, 80s and 90s were ready, we cast body doubles for each era of Billy. The performers not only had to play the piano extremely well, but they had to also match his body movements and facial expressions.
The specialist team at Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s AI entertainment company, Deep Voodoo, created face replacements. They set up a 2nd monitor on the side of our director monitor that would show us a live face-replacement as we were shooting. Freddy (Wexler) and I learned that certain nuances in the way Billy performs needed to be captured on the day, because there is no reanimating in post. The way that the AI filter works is that it is replacing the talent’s face and movements with a generative version of Billy from that era. This was not your typical VFX where you can re-animate and tweak the animation of a 3D model, because no 3D model exists. It was a new approach to technology that I had to familiarise myself with.
LBB> What’s next for Warren Fu? Is there any style or technique you have used before and would like to do more of? Or any format or forum you are yet to venture into but are itching to do?
Warren> I will always love the world of music videos and commercials because they are a place to experiment and try new techniques or ideas in a short form space. But right now, I’ve set aside time to flesh out some ideas for future films and TV shows, and it feels good to finally be able to scratch that itch.
