You Got it Figured Out - The Extravagants

Betsy & Jerry – Little Fluffy Clouds
On the Production

Little Fluffy Clouds joins indie pop band, The Extravagants, on another jam session for their latest catchy song - You Got it Figured Out.

How much do we love working with Laura Milligan and Mike King on their music videos! The lyrics are so unusual, open to a lot of interpretation, but always intelligent with many literary and cultural allusions. Like us they’re always looking to explore new and interesting ways to infuse their art with originality.

The brief from the Milli-Kings contained one request – let’s use 2D graphics for this video. That started us looking at the work of Saul Bass and similar film titles from that era inspired by his work. As we were playing with design elements, storyboarding and listening to the song a distinct character emerged and from that a unique story line.

It became obvious that we were moving more and more into creating a short film as opposed to just a music video. Though the style remained 2D, it became far more cinematic in scope, morphing into a film noir look and feel. Generally we opt to keep our animations open for interpretation but this song begged a storyline and moved us into the opposite direction and that’s because, You Got it Figured Out, is a love story with complications.

Essentially the story is about a man who would do anything to save his relationship, except change his ways. He's a man who can’t unshackle himself from a life he knows will be his downfall. In this film his story is told from her perspective. Looking at his life, spiraling out of control, she finally comes to the sad realization that she must withdraw her helping hand or be pulled down with him. So yes, at the end they both figured it out - that which was impossible to change.

Most of the story happens in shadows accentuated by pools of light. The character darts through the maze of the city, ducking and diving, hiding and seeking. We used a color palette more often seen in Graphic Novels - cool blues, warm oranges, purples and greens and lots and lots of black.

A moment of hope surfaces in the middle of the story when we find ourselves inside a church illuminated by beautiful, bright stained glass windows filtering in colored light but soon that scintilla of hope is shattered by a temptation he can’t resist. He truly is a fallen angel.

Towards the end we briefly land in her world - a far more genteel palette of lavenders and soft pastels – but we only get access to her world momentarily before being exiled to the harsh, cold reality of his life.

Working with The Extravagants is a delight. We get to explore new styles and try all sorts of techniques to tell stories in unexpected ways. You Got it Figured Out, is an anthem for choices good or bad.

Laura Milligan – The Extravagants
On Working with Little Fluffy Clouds

When Mike and I wrote, You Got It Figured Out, we already knew we wanted to work with LFC again on the video! Our first collaboration with them got us over 200K views on YouTube because of the stunning animation. The artistry of it blew our minds. And it was fun!

When Mike wrote the music for YGIFO, I was excited that it was in the same sort of “Spy Rock” genre as Zero Into Nine . The lyrics to this one were written during the U.S. Post-Election Madness and I was astounded by the arrogance and lack of humility being revealed in The Collective…

Once we recorded the song, we talked to Jerry and Betsy and all we knew was that we wanted the song to have the feel of a sort of modern take on Saul Bass… And, OF COURSE what LFC delivered was that and SO MUCH MORE. The song is now a short film with a unique look and a story that I didn’t even realize was there! The look, to me, feels familiar without being derivative of anything I have ever seen. It is a new, modern retro look and tells a story of inner demons and of making the worst possible choices. It’s just amazing! We were ecstatic to see the end result and now, just like with Zero Into Nine, I can’t picture the song without this animation.

Credits Animation

Production, Design, Animation:
Little Fluffy Clouds
Director, Designer, Animator:
Jerry van de Beek
Art Counselor, Producer:
Betsy de Fries

Credits Music

Song by:
The Extravagants
.
Michael King
.
Laura Milligan
Produced by:
Fab DuPont
Mixed by:
Fab DuPont
.
at Flux Studios
Vocals:
Laura Milligan
Guitar:
Michael King
Drums:
Jeff Friedl
Bass:
Matt McJunkins
Keyboards:
Fab DuPont
Recorded at:
Secret Hand Studios LA
.
Magnetic Owl Studios CA
.
Flux Studios NY

Sources

Link to The Extravagants website www.theextravagants.com