Tycho

What We Did

Production, VFX

Credits

Director: GMUNK
Assistant Director: Ian Colon
Executive / Line Producer: Andrew Devansky
Director of Photography: Joe Picard
Practical Effects Artists: Conor Grebel, Mike Williams
Editor: Bradley G Munkowitz
Colorist: Matt ‘Prince Wesley’ Hare
1st Camera Assistants: Magaera Stephens
2nd Camera Assistants: Dakota Wilder Smith
Lighting: Tej Verde, Dakota Wilder Smith, Patrick Walsh
Production Company: Ground
Control UK
Executive Producer: Michael Stanish

Tycho Screengrab

Treatment

Tycho See: When we first listened to “See,” we immediately began thinking about perspective and what it means to have sight. We wanted to explore the difference between the perceived and the actual that constantly exist within each of us. We wanted to push the limits of our vision both naturally and through technological enhancements. Shown through rich, low-contrast visuals that complement the dreamy and lucid feel of “See”, we tell the story of a girl living two parallel existences, harmonizing with the dreamy, expressive feel of the song.

Our female hero awakes, and we watch as she journeys through a series of stunning environments. There are moments when we see through her stylized point of view, and her world is markedly more mystical, filled with shamanic rituals, hypnotic runes and an elusive, enigmatic stranger she summons from nature itself. The locations seem simultaneously familiar yet mysterious. Switching between these two perspectives inspires the audience to question what is real and what is fantasy, and perhaps even the truth of their own senses.

Our heroine’s story folds back on itself — she wakes up three times, each time in the same physical posture but in a radically different location. As she ventures forward again, her path changes. She finds herself in new places, discovers that objects and symbols she’s carried on her journey have taken different shapes, and the cloaked stranger seems to know her differently. By the end, the stranger is no longer an untouchable figure she is chasing but a spiritual conduit that embraces her and pulls her back to reality, restoring her vision and beginning her story anew once more.

Otherwordly Perception

The mystic worldview of spiritual energy we see through our heroine’s point of view is a keystone of the video. We emphasise with intense stylisation. Presented through full-spectrum as well as infrared photography, we give our heroine’s experience an unmistakably unique palette. Using filters we can achieve practical, in-camera effects that drive home her familiar yet otherworldly perception.

In addition to effects and environment, we distinguish our heroine’s two perspectives through props. She carries a sack full of trinkets which on the outside seem mundane, but they erupt with extruding, geometric designs that come alive once viewed from her point of view. Though her perspective is otherworldly, we also want it to feel tangible, and there’s no substitute for crafting physical objects. Using Autofuss’ in-house design and shop capacities we can 3D print the extruding geometry, laser engrave runic patterns, and install lights inside objects for real, practical effects that will drive our story forward.

Finally, footage of the band bridges our three acts. Kinect cameras scatter thousands of dots across the room, including onto the band members. These dots are visible only through the infrared lens. We will capture these along with some supplemental graphic projections that bathe the image with fill light and colour. This gives us a visual reprieve from the otherwise intense environmental palettes, and bridges not only the story but the two execution methods used elsewhere in the film.