Stellar Stellar MV

Animation

Motion Graphics

TOOLS

Adobe After Effects
Procreate

YEAR

2023

An animated music video for the song Stellar Stellar by Hoshimachi Suisei, featuring a combination of frame-by-frame animation and animated lyrics. 

Created a fully animated short MV that is visually appealing to the rhythm of the music along with matching the song's aesthetic and meaning.

SONG SELECTION

The song that I chose for my project was “Stellar Stellar” by Hoshimachi Suisei. As a fan of Japanese music and culture, I wanted to pick a song that reflects my interest. But, another major reason I chose this song was because of my love for songs with a meaningful story behind them.

Though the song is quite upbeat, the meaning of the in-between verses are very sad and painful as the character struggles through her life but is eventually able to become a star with her own hands. In my short MV, I chose the verses to depict her struggles.

MV DESIGN

Before starting the planning out of the actual MV, I sketched out how I wanted the MV to look. Since I wanted it to reflect me as an artist as well, I chose to combine two fields of art that I am passionate about: illustration and photography.

The section of the song that I chose has a very melancholy atmosphere and vibe. In order to match this mood, I took photos at night to use as the background of the MV, which also worked well to highlight the character animation.
 Finally, lyrics are animated onto the MV to the beat of the music.

STORYBOARD

Then, I created a storyboard with a quick sketch and description for each scene of the MV. I settled upon seven scenes (excluding the credits), with one being a motion-tracked video with lyrics appearing on the wall.

I split the MV based on the significant parts of the lyrics with the character being animated in a way that would fit what was being said in that moment. With these scenes in mind, I took photos outside that match the sketches I made for the storyboard.

CHARACTER ANIMATION

The focus of the MV is on a cute girl with blue hair. Throughout the MV, she mostly has a melancholic expression. In the design process, I chose to draw her with her hood on to reinforce her sad persona.  

To make the MV more engaging, the character is animated to the beat of the music doing actions that match what is said in the lyrics. For example, the scene where she has her hands on her knees crying reflects the lyrics “I trembled as I hugged my knees in the corner of a room” (translated to English).