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Foals 'Like Lightning' by Virginie Kypriotis

David Knight - 26th Nov 2019

In a big year for Foals - two albums (Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 & 2) and several excellent videos - this is the most uncharacteristic one, but it's most welcome: Virginie Kypriotis turns the defining global issue into an uplifting call to arms, courtesy of a furry chap called George. 

The Paris-based artist - who worked with animation team Un Oeil Surtout on the video for Like Lightning - has used the theme of the song to tell her story about George, held captive by a junk food-addicted coach potato, who escapes his captor to lead a popular uprising against ecological disaster.

Kypriotis's skill here is in signalling the big issues with modern society that are turning climate change into a reality - primarily, it's relentless consumerism - in a package that is engaging, witty and inspirational. As with her illustrative work, her frames are packed with information that refer back to the song's theme.

And from the eco-adoption of a rightwing populist slogan, to the nod to the marathon-running Forrest Gump, George is very much the heroic (non-human) everyman we can all get behind. Go George!

“I think that animation allows us to touch on difficult subjects with humour and without making viewers confront realistic images that can sometimes be hard [to process] and depressing,” Kypriotis has told Creative Review

“Animation allows subjects and ideas to become more widespread, from children to adults, to different cultures. It is also easier to describe abstract ideas through drawing and animation.”

 

David Knight - 26th Nov 2019

Tags

  • Animation
  • Narrative
  • Rock
  • Climate change
  • Environment

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Virginie Kypriotis
Production Company
Code
Executive Producer
Rebecca Rice

Animation

Animation
Un Oeil Surtout

VFX

VFX Company
Mathematic

David Knight - 26th Nov 2019

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