A look inside the making of the music video for Odesza’s “Line Of Sight (feat. WYNNE & Mansionair)”.
Live-action production company UNHEARD/OF and director Dan Brown who joined forces with post/VFX specialists World Famous to craft the new music video for “Line of Sight,” the latest single from renowned electronic duo, Odesza.
World Famous was founded by Alan Nay a decade ago. The Seattle based company does many commercials, music videos and brand films and Odesza is also themselves from Seattle. The band are an electronic music duo from consisting of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight. The group was formed in 2012 shortly before Mills and Knight graduated from Western Washington University. On April 25, this year, Odesza released two digital singles, “Late Night” and “Line of Sight” featuring Wynne and Mansionair.
The new music video was shot over the course of three long days on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, “Line Of Sight” marks the second collaboration between Brown and ODESZA following the equally impressive “It’s Only” music video (see below). “We were really blown away by Dan’s work for ‘It’s Only’ a few years ago,” says Clay Knight and Harrison Mills of ODESZA. “When it came time to finding a director for ‘Line Of Sight’ we wanted someone who could represent the subtle sadness of the track yet pair it with feelings of hope and wonder. We loved Dan’s sense of imagination and idea of telling a story about friendship through a sci-fi lens.” Brown adds, “They are great collaborators. They have strong ideas and really get behind the ideas they like, so they’re great to have on your side. It’s always better to have that level of passion on the other end.”
While the “Line Of Sight” shoot itself had to be completed in matter of days, the post-production process to create the sci-fi components and characters within presented its own set of challenges. “Along with the challenges you’d expect from shooting in the Hawaiian tropical rainforest with a small crew, the VFX required a complex, multidisciplinary approach and a whole lot of planning,” World Famous Head of Production Casey Steele recalls. “Still, all challenges were handled by a robust and talented post team and thankfully, we had the resources at the ready to really play and explore the art of it all.”
Despite the tight delivery schedule (merely a few weeks) and the VFX/post efforts involved to bring “Line Of Sight” to life, the resulting music video serves as a moving testament to the solid, longstanding working relationship between UNHEARD/OF, director Brown and World Famous. “It was a divide and conquer approach with everyone wearing a plethora of hats,” adds UNHEARD/OF Executive Producer Matt Ackerman. “Like most visual effects projects, there is always more to do and never enough time, but the team did amazing work within the timeframe.”
Post Production Company: World Famous
- President, Founder: Alan Nay
- Head of Production: Casey Steele
- Editor: Nick Pezzillo
- VFX Creative Director: Rogelio Salinas
- Art Director and Pre-visualization: Juan Arenas
- 2d/3d Animation and Compositor: Jacob Shroads
- 2d/3d Animation and Compositor: Jake Wegesin
- 2d/3d Animation and Compositor: Cody Cobb
- 2d/3d Animation and Compositor: Charlie Bartlett
- Designer/Animator: Emma Frost
- Jr. 3d Animator: Kalin Fields
- Assistant Editor: Champ Ensminger
- Colorist: Joel Voelker
- Post Producer: Steiner Kierce
The team previous collaborated on It’s Only for Odesza about a year ago, also directed by Dan Brown. That music video explored themes of battle, discovery and love both won and lost in sweeping, epic fashion all in black and white.
Definitely reminds of the Animatrix, and Blomkamp. The conflict at the end was executed too bluntly, narratively speaking. I felt this overall could have been smarter.