ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

This is the second video I worked on for The Roots with Joe Baughman (the first being for When the People Cheer). I believe this entire video was made in less than a week. There was not much sleep to be had during that time, particularly for Joe.

I believe I came up with the idea of using hymn books for animation (which were generously provided by a local church–which always makes me chuckle. I believe the pastor got a kick out of the video once he saw it, amazingly). It was Joe’s idea to put them inside what looks like a gas station refrigerator unit, which I think is a perfect and relatively unique image that furthers the thematic notion of the threat of the commodofication of the Church.

That last shot of the tiny casket approaching the pulpit was, if I recall correctly, the last shot we did. There were three of us, each assigned multiple tasks. Joe had written out the timing of each component (garage door shifts every 10th frame, candles go out/are relight on certain beats, etc.). It was a massive pain and took us well into the morning hours. Some of the things going on, no one ever notices, like the offering plates stacking and unstacking, but the cumulative effect is pretty interesting.