Music Video Collab: Gaming Squid Missile by ksd6700

A music video I directed/animated/edited, featuring character models and props by musician/artist Firedrill. I created, textured, and lit most of the set environment, and musician ksd6700 contributed additional motion graphics and the 3D scan of himself. We all connected via internet radio station Datafruits.fm.

There were three main phases for the animation: procedurally animating the characters, using tempo-synced drivers to control the rigging, recording handheld camera movement using the Virtucamera app, and staging multiple blockings of the characters and camera moves. By duplicating the set and characters and then copying and pasting handheld camera moves, I was able to achieve some interesting match cuts. In addition to Blender, I used TouchDesigner for the title designs and video feedback effects.

A proof-of-concept/teaser version premiered along with the music release in March 2024, and I completed the full video at the end of April.

The concept was influenced by local Detroit techno/house dance tv shows The Scene and The New Dance Show, early CGI such as Ugo Ugo Ruga, bullet time, and the architecture of Backrooms video creators such as Liminal Spatial Constructs.

Gaming Squid Missile premiered digitally with a watch party on Datafruits.fm, and has since screened at at Dylan Mars Greenberg's Videodome series in NYC (2024), Komplexival Festival in Dahmsdorf, Germany (2025), and Fantoche Festival's Trash Music Videos Program in Baden, Switzerland (2025).