‘Time’ by the Free Nationals is the bittersweet internal monologue of letting go of a relationship that’s run its course. The track features the sweet vocals of R&B singer, Kali Uchis and is the first official posthumous verse from Mac Miller.
The music video takes the viewer on a stream of consciousness through time and space, a spiritual journey that touches on emotional growth, human connection and loss. It is a deep dive into understanding the concept of time and its importance to oneself and the world around them. This is coupled with visual cues of the artists, who flow from one to another as if bound by the threads of time, memories and unseen forces of the universe…
For an organic approach, each frame is hand-drawn to illustrate our personal and cosmic relationship with time. Visual metaphors such as flowers blooming, cells dividing and the universe expanding are woven throughout the performances.
The full studio was brought together in order to storyboard and collaborate on each scene with everyone being a part of the creative and production process. We utilised old and new animation techniques: frame-by-frame, rotoscoping and 3D models as motion references, as a way to show different, abstract interpretations of time. This was all brought together with the uniform use of overlaid textures and a warm, concise colour palette. This project was a way for us to be expressive with our animations, experiment with storytelling, all the while learning how to present these abstract concepts to the world.
