“Moving On” music video by Ainslie Henderson
This month has seen the release of the phenomenal music video for the new single by James, the 1990s British rock band whose hits included Come Home, Sit Down, and She’s a Star. The heartwarming stop-motion animation, cleverly created with wool, focuses on the concept of new beginnings and regeneration.
The animation is true to what is quickly becoming Ainslie’s trade mark sensitivity in film making. The soft lighting and even the choice of a bright yellow yarn stops the film’s somber narrative distracting from the upbeat melody and the powerful message of love and hope at the heart of the song, opening the viewers’ eyes to the beauty in the ending – and beginning – of life.
From a technical point of view, the choices of camera angles and the wonderful dance sequence of the young woman are all evidence of Ainslie’s ever talented sense of space and subtlety of movement. Animated with the help of Michael Hughes, models made by Tobias Feltus and storyboards by fellow White Robot filmmaker Will Anderson.
The film itself reminds us of Ainslie’s earlier career in the music industry; having appeared on BBC’s Fame Academy he went on to release a top 5 UK single. In an interview conducted on the James Blog, Ainslie discusses his first interaction with the band that came to mean so much to him;
My connection with James is a long and evolving one. The first time I heard their music was sitting at a friend’s house, aged 18, stoned and confused. ‘Sometimes’ was playing, I remember feeling something that until then I didn’t know pop music could make you feel. I thought crying was only for when you feel loss or sadness. Pop music, but woven with something sincere and yearning, passionate and beautiful. It was 1997, Britpop was happening and I’d just started my first band. I was falling in love with music and trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted my life to be. I was emboldened by the Gallagher swagger, excited and inspired by Blur and Pulp, but James’s music spoke to me like no other band of that era. James didn’t seem to really belong to that era, they orbited it, danced around it, but they were their own branch, growing off in their own direction. It’s telling for me that as Britpop died away and my love for those bands faded into nostalgia, I remain as curious for the next James record as I ever was.
The band was in contact with Ainslie since his music industry years and when the opportunity arose for them to work together on a project they did everything in their power to make it work:
Ainslie’s animation is wonderful, heartfelt, truthful, innocent, and reveals a true storyteller. As a band we were determined to work with him even if it meant dipping into our own pockets.
The film itself was inspired by lead singer Tim Booth’s own story of cradling his mother in his arms in her final hours and the birth of a close friend’s child. Touched by the story, a mere two days later Ainslie wrote and sent over the script. Tim and his manager tried to hold back the tears before agreeing to pay the little extra to allow this beautiful piece to be made. The band was blown away by the final film:
That Ainslie found such a perfect medium to fit our song blows us away. He delivered on the promise of his script and then some. This is the first video we have made that we consider to be a work of art.
Another brilliant piece from this up and coming director and animator. His new film Monkey Love Experiments created with fellow director/animator Will Anderson is due to hit the animation festival circuit this year. We eagerly await what Ainslie has for us next.
You can also pre-order the new album from James here.