“Saturnz Barz”, A Full 360° Music Video

Jenna Fairson
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

“Saturnz Barz” is a music video that was released by the band Gorillaz in 2017 for their 5th studio album Humanz. It follows the band as they arrive at their new home base, which came with a few more strings attached than they expected; namely, a haunting, with two angry spirits. The video shows the night of horror they all have at the hand of these poltergeists; except for Murdoc, the band’s bassist, who has a pleasant bath and floats through space for a while. By morning they’ve been released, and they all go get breakfast. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the band and their work, and I was especially impressed with this video when it was released. Gorillaz, since their creation in 1998, have always been an experimental group; coming back with their first music video after a 6-year hiatus, “Saturnz Barz” doesn’t skimp on experimentation. This particular version of the song is done in YouTube’s 360° Virtual Reality mode, meaning that for most of the video, one can look at the entire scene around them from a fixed point.

A shot of the environment; 2:10
A shot of the environment; 2:10

Taking this increased field of vision into account, a fully-rendered 3D environment was created to hold the 2D band members; and, occasionally, the members themselves were transformed into 3D models to allow for a greater variety of movement.

During the lead-up to the beginning of the song, various sound effects are used to set a grim tone to accompany the dingy, creepy environment: the constant sound of a storm in the background, the way everything- from the doors to the floorboards- creak, and a few musical stings one would expect in a horror movie.

The foyer of the Spirit House; 1:22

Once the actual song begins to play, the music dictates scene transitions and the introduction/departure of characters and other props. Unable to “hide” anything out of frame when it’s time for the character/prop to leave, the animation still makes it work. In one instance, the video uses environmental elements- such as a passing meteor- to mask a character, so that their model can leave the scene without creating a sudden, jarring disappearance. Simultaneously, the same meteor is used to introduce another character.

Murdoc disappears, Russel appears; 3:20

“Saturnz Barz”, while impressive in multiple ways, still has some rough elements that come with trying something experimental with still-developing technology. At some points in the video, some noticeable clipping issues can be seen, the most notable being when Russel’s arm clips through a spirit’s mouth.

Clipping issue; 2:37

Some of the scenes take shortcuts in regards to rendering the environment, creating darkened corners/walls rather than rendering more. In relation to this, some of the angles the viewer is locked to are quite awkward when looking around the entire space; being squished against the wall is the most common issue.

Smooshed against a door; 3:59

Despite these issues, the music video is quite an impressive piece of animation. It embraces a new technology to tell this part of the band’s story, and doesn’t shy away from expansive locations nor the wide field of view; instead, it uses it to create the most visually-compelling video it possibly could.

Gorillaz, together; 5:22

(A link to the regular music video, if anyone wants to watch it without missing anything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJp6xlKEug)

BetweenTheFrames

Animated analysis from UMBC's Intro to Animation class

Jenna Fairson

Written by

BetweenTheFrames

Animated analysis from UMBC's Intro to Animation class

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