A blue apple a day

Squid – Pamphlets

Credits

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Production Company BLINKINK
Director Raman Djafari

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Credits

powered by

Production Company BLINKINK
Director Raman Djafari
Executive Producer Josef Byrne
Lead Designer Raman Djafari
Animation BLINKINK
Animator Barney Abrahams

Credits powered by

Walking round in circles in the bedroom, catatonically switching a light on and off, realising one’s washing machine can be a portal out of self-loathing into a world where blue apples facilitate a sense of selfhood and transcendence – we’ve all been there.

Well maybe not, but the epic, strange and bewitching Pamphlets, through fantastical 3D-animated imagery from Blinkink’s Raman Djafari, conveys the sense of a journey from alienation to oneness and peace.

Marking the German illustrator and visual artist Djafari’s first collaboration with UK indie rockers Squid, the film follows a curious horned creature tussling with social anxiety and alienation.

Gradually, via a spot of prolonged gazing at the washing machine – the being manages to find release from inner struggles.

Djafari commented: "The transformation that happens when we learn to love ourselves is a detachment from the ideals of normativity. Loving the difference – that which is perceived as ugly and rotten – is beautiful.

The artist says the vocals directly inspired the design of the protagonist – “They are a person, a creature, a beautiful beast, vulnerable and powerful at the same time, they are what I hope to be. Animated and brought to life with the help of the great Barney Abrahams, who did a large part of the character animation and rigging in the video, I aimed to create a character that possesses an aura and presence that is felt even in moments of stillness." Job done, we reckon.