British rock guitarist David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) has released an animated video featuring his new single titled “Rattle That Lock.” The striking animation was created by Alasdair & Jock from Trunk Animation, a London-based production house. The creative director of Trunk Animation is Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis, the design studio that made some of the most iconic Pink Floyd album artwork.
Rattle That Lock is the first track to be released from David Gilmour’s new album, Rattle That Lock, scheduled for release worldwide on September 18 by Sony Music/Columbia.
Animation is the most interesting among Unlimited Graphic Design opportunities. “I love animation when it does something that can’t be achieved any other way,” says David Gilmour. “The film Alasdair & Jock have made for Rattle That Lock highlights a darkness in the song that couldn’t have been shown any other way.”
The black and white, hand drawn animation illustrates various sides from John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, from which Rattle That Lock lyricist Polly Samson drew her inspiration. The poem itself includes twelve books, concerning the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
“I think the animators have done a fine job: paying homage to Gustave Dore, bringing his illustrations for Paradise Lost alive, making a powerful visual for the song“, adds Polly Samson.
The largescale video required a team of 12 animators, artists and compositors, working continuously over three months to bring the narrative and many technical elements together. The Trunk team developed the narrative and took its main inspiration from the first three books of Milton’s poem, and utilized details from across all twelve volumes. Working with sound designer Barnaby Templer and his team at Fonic, the film was brought to life with layered foley and sound effects, which were then delicately mixed with the Rattle That Lock track.
The film follows the fall of Satan from the kingdom of Heaven and his ensuing journey through Pandemonium, Purgatory and Chaos on his way to pervert the virgin Earth. As the tale plays out, Satan takes on new forms as his character also progresses. Starting as the beautiful yet fearful Fallen Angel he is first re-born as a sinister, masterful Cormorant before finally transforming into a lithe Serpent that wreaks havoc on the Earth in a cloud of jealousy and rage.