Behind Ashnikko’s Absurdist Dystopian Video for ‘Worms’
“Imagine a battle between heaven and hell, of biblical scale, but sci-fi, but mediaeval beasts fighting the mecha’s from Neon Genesis Evangelion, in a dystopian landscape, lead by a gender fluid fae battle angel warlord, all in absurd cinematic drama on a theatre stage, but everything is wonky puppets.”
This is how Raman Djafari, illustrator, animator and director repped by Blinkink describes his latest work for Ashnikko’s music video, ‘Worms’, from her ‘WEEDKILLER’ album - set to come out in June this year.
And really, there is no better way to describe it. Raman’s totally unique style and complex worldbuilding shines through his masterful usage of real life mixed with animation and animatronic. One of his base inspirations being Pieter Brugel’s painting ‘The Fall of the Rebel Angels’, the music video carries that feeling of chaos, mischievousness, and leaves viewers craving to see more of the fantastical world Raman has built. Every next time you rewatch the video, you’re guaranteed to find a new character to pause on and stare at.
And while this might sound like a chaotic, shroom-induced fever dream, don’t be fooled - the ‘Worms’ world is not just a bunch of cursed images mashed together. In fact, every single character in the video has a name and a reason to be there and Raman created each of them with love and an incredible attention to detail (including the monster truck, which was real). He admits that the mix between faux claymation, set design and live action was a gamble, but in the end it carried the dramatic tension he wanted to infuse the dystopian setting with.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to Raman about what it was like to work with Ash, what his mood boards look like for something of this scale, and the unique names and stories behind his monsters.
LBB> Tell me about the starting point of the ideas behind this video - what was the brief and how did you approach it?
Raman> It all started with an outline of the narrative that Ashnikko and their creative director Vasso developed around the album. It’s the story of the Weedkiller and a dystopian future, in which these angelic white robots have taken over and forced all organic life into hiding. I also received a bunch of images, anime fairies, mecha robots and mediaeval depictions of devilish creatures.
When reading about this world, a painting by Pieter Bruegel directly came to my mind. It’s called ‘The Fall of the Rebel Angels’. This epic battle depicts all kinds of angels and demons, clashing in an overwhelming cluster of bodies crashing into each other. This image was my conceptual and aesthetic starting point for this project. I wanted to build a vast world, with an abundance of creatures and robots, that would reflect the scope of the world behind this story.
LBB> What did the moodboards for this look like? And were there a lot of creatures/characters that didn't make it to the final video?
Raman> My mood boards are often very expansive. There are paintings by the aforementioned Pieter Bruegel, but also Hieronymus Bosch, Caravaggio and Goya. Then there are a lot of mediaeval etchings depicting beasts and devils. Lots of ‘80s and ‘90s mecha anime, like ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’, next to kaiju movies. Some Alexander McQueen, some Jim Henson, some Magritte Humeau… and lots of ‘Mad Max’, ‘Tank Girl’ and ‘Björk’.
As for my creature and character design process: I am very iterative - almost trial and error when it comes to design. There are actually quite a few monsters and robots that didn’t make the cut, because they just didn’t feel like they really belonged to this world.
Above: Still from 'Worms' next to part of 'The Fall of the Rebel Angels'
LBB> How involved were the artists in the creation of the video and did your creative visions match from the start, or did she trust your judgement entirely?
Raman> It was beautiful to work with Ash and Vasso. They knew what they liked and had their own vision, but trusted me enough to bring my interpretation of this world to life. There were no real vetos from their part, more questions and ideas they provided throughout, but I felt like I could roam freely, really creating what felt exciting and fun to me.
LBB> What was it like working with Ashnikko?
Raman> Maybe my favourite collaboration with a musician yet. In the development of the concept, I felt seen and trusted as an artist and supported in my vision for the project. At the same time, I felt Ash and Vasso were always engaged and curious. It was really beautiful to go through this process, being given so much freedom and trust by artists that I admire so much.
On set, Ash was incredible. The character really came to life through their acting and provided so much depth to the story. It was super fun!
LBB> You say you were aiming to create a world stretching beyond the video - tell me more about that world and where you took inspiration for it?
Raman> Having this Pieter Bruegel painting as a starting point inspired me to not be efficient about the amount of character design work I wanted to do. I wanted every character to feel unique, even if they only appear on screen for half a second in the background. I think that, to me, made it feel like there is more world beyond the screen, more stories waiting to be told outside of the music video for ‘Worms’. I don’t know if that makes sense to other people, but for me it did. Like, I didn’t want this world to feel efficiently designed to just fill enough screen time, you know? We were joking during production, that we should create skits and blooper reels with these characters, just to give them more chances to show what they can do.
LBB> Tell me more about the separate characters you came up with - which one is your favourite and are some of them characters you have had the idea for a long time?
Raman> Each of them has a name - some are references to their origin, and some are just because that was the vibe they gave off to me. There’s ‘Ghoul Babe’ (the huge winged demon) and the ‘Hounds of Love’ (the two-headed beast named after the Kate Bush song) and ‘Edward’ (the tiny monkey-ish bat eared creature, named after the most famous and pale vampire of the 2000s). There are so many characters that I really love. ‘Ghostface’ (named after the Wu-Tang Clan member), which I love because of their scary eyes and blue lips… I have a thing for characters with blue lips. I really love ‘Snape Ra’ (the big flying worm) and ‘Moth Friend’ (the small moth character that shares the same face as the hounds). I think the now renamed ‘Titty Horse’ (someone named this character like this on Ash’s twitter, and it stuck) is a fan favourite and also a fave of mine. ‘Bubblebird’, ‘Schnappi’, ‘Marcy Eye’… I love all of them.
Also talking about the characters i need to mention my core animation team on this project: Harry Bhalerao, Domo Lutz, Barney Abrahams and Nate Die. Each one of them brought so much life to my character designs. I felt like they were acting out their respective creatures and robots with so much inventiveness, each one of them bringing their unique sense of movement and personality to the table. They really made it possible to have them feel as weird and lovable as they do.
LBB> The inside of the monster truck is real - how was it made? And which other parts of the video are real/animatronic?
Raman> Yes it is! Crazy right? I loved this so much. I worked with the amazing set designer Laura Little, who assembled a great team to bring this set to life. We had analog synthesisers, all kinds of out of date measuring tech, wires, cables, chains and had custom made gear sticks, buttons, as well as the steering wheel, all carved out of wood based on my designs. That was so magical to see. All of this was assembled in a custom constructed wooden cockpit frame that was beautifully dressed up and put together by the crew. I am so thankful for everyone who made this possible.
Apart from this and two styrofoam teeth that Ash is holding in the video, everything else is CG.
LBB> Tell me about why you thought a mix between animation and live action is the best approach and what kind of challenges did that pose?
Raman> Honestly, it was an experiment. I had no idea if it would work. I mean, of course I hoped the faux claymation look that I do would create an exciting tension with the live action footage and set design, but I was also gambling a bit.
That said, I was lucky to have my VFX supervisor John Malcolm Moore on the project. He and his team did an amazing job keying and camera tracking the footage so that I could integrate the live action materials directly into my 3D blender files, which then John added stunning holographic interface VFX on top. I could’ve never done it without this amazing team. I just trusted that John's calm energy would steer us towards our goal.
LBB> The scenes where Ashnikko seems to be inside of a mouth with teeth - how much of that is animated and how much of it is set design?
Raman> The scenes in the hellmouth are almost completely CG, except for Ashnikko of course. The teeth that she’s holding on to were made from styrofoam and then later replaced with exact CG replicas, so that they would fit the rest of the environment.
Seeing the set design of the cockpit by Laura Little as well as the outfits created by Holly Wood really helped me to fully understand the visual language of the world we had created. I felt pushed to live up to the standard of their incredible work. It was an honour to work with them, really.
LBB> What was the most challenging aspect of making the video? And what about the most fun?
Raman> The most challenging… mh. I think the sheer size of some of these shots was really hard to manage sometimes, both in terms of lighting and design but also just in terms of file size. There were so many characters interacting in a given shot, that often towards the end I could barely preview the scenes anymore. I have to admit, my 3D models are not the most optimised, so it’s a bit of a problem I created for myself.
Also directing action scenes was very new for me. These battle scenes are really different from what I have done before. I still tried to make them feel like my work but still wanted to develop from my usual approach to cinematography and camera work. I hope I’ve struck a good balance.
The most fun… so much of this was a blast. I love working with Ash and the team on set. Bringing this world that had lived in my head for a couple of months by that point into reality felt amazing. My DOP Hunter was so great to work with, and translate the ideas from the CG into the live action world. I also really loved designing all of this universe. It’s been a while since I’ve done monsters and robots and such. I got my start doing concept art for video games, so this was a bit of a blast to the past.
Making these massive battle scenes, inspired by this one Brueggel painting, was a culmination of both the joy and the struggle of the project. Making this overwhelmingly clustered vision for a battle scene read well in a matter of seconds, while also making it feel epic and cinematic was a blast but also a real struggle.
LBB> Any final thoughts?
Raman> I mean, this is magic, really. That I get to do this stuff. Working with an artist like Ash, who I harcore admire, creating these absurd fantasies, participating in the making of pop-culture to some degree… all of this feels really beautiful to me. Really, I am thankful for this. I am grateful for everyone that was involved, especially to Jake River Parker and Molly Turner, the producers of the project, who made this insane fever dream of a project possible.
