How an animatic can be authored anarchy

Keith Schofield has always been a director whose ability to shock with a cheeky wink has both dazzled fans and distressed squares to an equal measure.

Be it his de-sauced porn in Safe For Work, creative censor-lines in Toe Jam or groin-based noggins in Big Bad Wolf, the Caviar director's ability to mix the smutty with wit, backed up by some serious filmcraft, always makes for an entertaining watch.

For his latest, Mesmerize for Duck Sauce, Schofield has ditched the shoot entirely, instead releasing an animatic-based promo that... esculates.

From celebrity shootouts to nested rear-ends, the vid doesn't leave chance for breath, so we grabbed Schofield to find out how, and why, he did it.

Right, we don't really know where to start with this, so I guess we should ask where you started?

I went to a stock footage website and searched for “dance club” footage. 

One thing lead to another.

Is this animatic process normal for your videos? What made you decide to 'pull back the curtain', as it were?

I’ve been doing animatics for music videos and commercials for years now. 

Often someone will joke “wow, that’s great! Let’s just release the animatic!” 

The film starts fairly normally, but flips to reveal more about 45 seconds in. When you're planning your films, do you consciously choose to switch things up at defined points in the track or does that happen innately when plotting it out?

I never quite think any of my ideas are good enough for more than 30 seconds, so I always try to escalate or switch things up. And yeah, the structure of a song always seems to suggest what type of sequence should happen next. 

I never quite think any of my ideas are good enough for more than 30 seconds, so I always try to escalate or switch things up.

For whatever reason I felt compelled to “peak” the video early, about the 1:20-1:50 mark. Where do you go from there? 

(hint: assholes)

We have to ask about the 'celebrity cameos'. What made you choose those faces?

I simply searched for celebrities on 3D model sites and picked the best (cheapest) ones. 

And I like bald men because there's no hair to texture. 

In the mid-section, the concept of life as a simulation is discussed. Is this something that's been on your mind for a while? Are we in The Matrix?

Not the Matrix. I don’t actually know, and don’t even think it matters. We can’t really do anything about it. 

I like bald men because there's no hair to texture. 

I’m much more fascinated by the universes we will create, and the theory that it will essentially end the concept of space travel.

(This is all explained in the video if you’re so inclined to read through it.)

The latter scenes feature a LOT of rapidly appearing dialogue that is impossible to keep up with. We've scrolled through it and it's pretty dense! Is there a joy in toiling over something that's designed to be missed?

Yeah; I’m fascinated by the idea of too much information. I think that’s what we’re experiencing now, and it will only get more disconcerting.  

[The arsehole section] was an actual music video concept I came up with about a year ago.

Like, it’s a billion times quicker to download a novel than it is to read it. What do you do with that?

Are there any easter eggs strewn in the fast cuts that you're particularly hoping people might discover?

Frame 176 is Brian Wilson visiting the musical Cats sometime in the 1980s.

The bumhole section. Discuss.

So, this was an actual music video concept I came up with about a year ago. I never actually pitched it to anyone, of course, and never really knew what to do with it. But I quickly realized this would be the perfect place to use it.

Frame 176 is Brian Wilson visiting the musical Cats sometime in the 1980s.

Also, I am obsessed with pre-empting any criticism of my own work. I thought I was sort of making a video that was sort of wallowing in  stuff I’ve already done, and that I was sort of…. traveling up my own ass. 

The pandemic has made a lot of artists have to rethink how they work. As a filmmaker, do you see the restrictions as a challenge that breeds innovation or a frustration that's quashing creativity?

I found it interesting because I don’t think I would ever have done this had it not been for the restrictions. It was sort of like a free pass to do a video that I thought from the beginning was not a real video. 

The fact that people are treating it like a real video is pretty neat.

Are you OK?

Sure! 

Here’s an exclusive behind the scenes photo: