Crystal Fighters: The Moondog Music Video
Director: Wayne McCauslin | Animation: Curtis Kemble | Character design: Holly Maguire | Magical Whale Puppet: Ivan Blažetić Šumski | Art department: Neirin Best, Aiden Berglund, Bisous_bisous_bisous, Pixie Tan.
The Moondog music video was a highly ambitious video I directed with limited resources and manpower. The video was designed using hand built sets and puppets, characters were designed in 3D then composited over real life miniature sets. The project was made a few years ago now but I wanted to finally share some of the processes.
Puppet Development
Here are some of the initial designs for the giant whale puppet by Ivan Blažetić. The first drawing was my concept, Ivan took it on and made it more in his style which I loved. The puppet was handled by Three people (could have needed 4 or 5!). The whale had three sections that were controlled with three poles.
Character development
Bristol based artist Holly Maguire designed these inital beautiful characters in 2d, which I then modelled and rigged in 3D.
Set Design Miniatures
The Treatment
Animatic
The Moondog was an immensely rewarding project for me, particularly due to its ambitious scope. Although the pre-production phase could have benefited from additional weeks giving it a more cohesive design—especially since it was a six-minute film made with very limited resources—I am proud of the many memorable scenes we created. One standout is the whale scene; it was incredible to see how Ivan brought my vision to life with such remarkable interpretation.
