It's Easy to Love This Stop-Motion Promo for Rex Orange County

Creative production studio Feed Me Light recently collaborated with Belgian director Chris Ullens on this feel-good, stop-motion music video for Rex Orange County. 

Here, Chris Ullens describes what drew him to work with Feed Me Light, why he loves stop-motion and how the team made the most out of a modest budget and four weeks.

Q> How did Rex Orange County come onto your radar?

CU> Rex approached me, he said he had seen my work and really liked it. He was hoping to have a stop-motion piece for his next video. Rex and I hit it off, he’s a solid guy and I loved the track. He only wanted to work with me, I couldn't refuse! A very modest budget with four weeks to produce? Challenge accepted.

Q> What makes a project like that worth while?

CU> People! I was so blessed with the team that came around me, they were flawless. The whole piece came together so organically, I didn't have the time to think too much about the details. I just had to trust my team and their visions. This made for a fantastic vibe within the team, we all understood our importance and had so much respect for each other's efforts.

Music! A lot of people ask me why I've mostly stayed at music videos, sometimes the budgets aren't huge and animation is such a long laboured process. Honestly, I love music. I listen to music 24/7. I love crafting stories to the music.

Q> What drew you to Feed Me Light?

CU> I’d seen their studio pop up and I admired their work. Time was tight and I knew I could trust them to deliver. I worked with Feed Me Light on another project previously so the connection was there. I knew with their ability they could nail the look I was after. It worked, I got so many people remarking on the lip syncing. They caught the light and tone perfectly, the texture and “hands on” feel was preserved. It brings so much life to the characters.

Q> What is it about stop-motion that drives you to create it?

CU> The perfect imperfection. It’s the human touch, the fact that what you're seeing has been clearly manipulated. Life's such a chaotic mess, it’s wonderful in its own right as a result. When I was a child playing, I would take all my toys to the garden for a jungle setting or go and play in the pond, acting out the scenes, creating stories and worlds all to myself. There's something in stop-motion that engages my inner child, watching my imagination come to life. These pieces of material now have souls and personalities. That blows my mind.

Q> Sounds like you’ll look back on this project fondly...

CU> This was a very happy chapter, I'm so glad I took it on, it's one of those mad projects that you commit to and have no idea how it's going to come out. I jumped in thinking shit, how the fuck am I going to do this? I’ve a modest budget and four weeks to pull it off. We just went for it, everyone was a safe pair of hands, I’m so grateful to the team and well wishers. Working with Feed Me Light was brilliant. It was such a pleasure winding the project down in their office. They’ll be seeing me again!