Creating a music video for an iconic Australian rock band is something 40 University of Newcastle students can tick off their bucket list after producing the official music video for The Living End's new single Not Like The Other Boys.
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The Bachelor of Visual Communication Design and Bachelor of Communication students were given an exclusive sneak preview of the animated music video on Friday, June 21, ahead of its release in July.
"We had a great time making the Not Like The Other Boys video with the extremely talented and creative students," the band said in a statement.
"It was a first for us as we'd never made an animated video before, and we were blown away by the quality of the end result. It was exciting to be part of a unique process that gave young up and coming directors a shot.
"The students came up with a very clever idea that really captures the meaning behind the song in a really cool way."
The project was conceptualised, shot, animated and edited with The Living End in the university's production studios.
Using the technique rotoscoping, where live-action footage is traced and animated effects applied to the image, the final video is a mash up of bold lines, colour and 'extraordinary forms' to tell the story.
The music video is already gaining industry attention. It was nominated for best Australian and New Zealand animated music video at the 2019 CLIPPED Music Video Festival as part of Vivid Sydney. The only solely student-produced project, it stood its ground against works from seasoned industry professionals.
Bachelor of Visual Communication Design student Reid McManus helped rotoscope the clip and said the experience had been an incredible introduction to the industry.
"It was a really exciting experience to work with such a well-known and loved band," he said.
"They have faith that we as students can do a bigger project - something that's more like what we'll be doing in the commercial world. These are tangible skills that we'll be able to draw on as our careers progress in the industry."
Associate Professor in the School of Creative Industries, Susan Kerrigan, said she was "thrilled" to see the students involved in "something so ground-breaking".
"It's a rare opportunity for students to be able to gain real-world experience in collaboration with such an established and respected group like The Living End," she said.
In 2017, Justin Timberlake shared University of Newcastle students' rotoscoped work of his hit Can't Stop the Feeling on his social media pages.
