Joe Sill, of Manhattan Beach, CA’s Impossible Objects’ (www.impossible-objects.co), recently directed a new music video for up-and-coming artist Pia and EDM music producer Anymize. Follow the Toad stars Indian actor Abhay Deol and was captured in a single day. The production made use of a stage equipped with a 30-foot-by-12-foot LED wall. Sill, who is a co-founder of Impossible Objects, not only directed the video, but also built the stunning environments featured throughout the piece, which is set in an ancient Middle Eastern land.
The team worked entirely in Unreal Engine, capturing live action and backgrounds from the LED wall simultaneously in-camera. Sill also used assets from Quixel and Big/Medium/Small, together with the iPhone app RealityCapture from Epic Games, to scan both actors and create digital doubles of them. All of the wide shots in the video feature a 50/50 split of the actors and their digital counterparts.
This project began with Pia sharing her love of music, art, movies and video games with Sill. For her first musical endeavor, it wasn’t just about making a music video, but about exploring the depths of her imagination and pushing the boundaries of storytelling. The narrative of the video explores the battle between good and evil, reminiscent of iconic tales from the film and gaming realms.
Bollywood actor Abhay Deol, who serves as the male lead, is a long-time friend of Pia, and was excited to star in the video, as well as be a part of a virtual production.