What is the film about?

The official music video for prog rock legend Devin Townsend’s latest track, Why? tells the story of a man living a fully automated life onboard a space station. When told to evacuate because of an incoming mysterious ‘void’, he smashes his window in frustration, and discovers the void is not what he thought. He investigates, with surprising and very colourful results.

What influenced it?

Saul Bass; John K; Genndy Tartakovski; Lisa Hanawalt; Paul Verhoeven; Mike Mignola; Kate Beaton; Ruby Eilot

A little background information...

We’ve been long time fans of Devin’s music and his space-themed live shows so when the opportunity arose to animate Why? we didn’t hesitate. Although we had free reign creatively, the story was inspired by the lyrics of the track and also Devin’s previous work exploring consciousness and existence.

How was the film made?

The animation was created in Blender 2.8, making extensive use of the new Grease Pencil tools, and edited in Da Vinci Resolve 16 (Mac and Wacom Cintiq). The concept art was created in Procreate for iPad.