Music video revives pre-cinema animation technique

In a time where the vast majority of animations are created with the help of elaborate computer software, there's something very special about work created using more traditional techniques.

Milan-based artist Virgilio Villoresi handcrafted this music video for John Mayer's Submarine Test January 1967 with as little help from computers as possible. "I used a pre-cinema technique called ombro cinema [also known as shadowgraphy] to animate the drawings made by Virginia Mori," he explains. "Everything was filmed in live-action, no post production effects were employed."

The old-fashioned technique involves a piece of acetate being placed on an image and moved back and forth in order to make the image appear to move. Combined this with beautiful illustrations and perfectly timed animations has resulted in a gorgeous and moving video.

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Have you seen any cool animations recently? Let us know in the comments!