Playlist: Alfie Vaughan

What’s the best music video you’ve seen recently and why?

Recently Tenacious D released a new music video for their latest single Video Games. It combines loads of different animation styles that are nods to various classic games like Mario and Sonic. 

The whole video is really beautifully lit and rendered and the mashup of styles made it feel like a montage. I really enjoyed it!

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

I remember seeing the music video for Green Day - American Idiot when I was in primary school and being fascinated by it. The colour tones, the attitude they put into their performances while they’re playing, the VHS artefacts on the footage… It was all very punky! I love the bit at the end where all the water flows into the set while they’re playing in slow motion.

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

I regularly go back and watch Guns N' Roses - November Rain. I remember reading it cost $1.5 million to make which made it the most expensive video of its time. I love the track and imagery in the video. It’s quite gothic and dark with moments where it opens up. Slash’s guitar solo outside a church in the middle of the desert is a part that has always stuck with me.

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

A lot of my industry heroes are less traditional than most. I grew up learning VFX and general filmmaking from YouTube and as a result I think a lot of that slightly Lo-Fi “internet filmmaking” approach comes across in my own work. 

I draw a lot of inspiration from creators like Freddie Wong, Corridor Digital, Zach King etc. because that was my first love and how I discovered this amazing line of work.

What are you listening to at the moment?

For the last week I’ve had C’mon People by Richard Ashcroft and Liam Gallagher on loop. I love both of them and their music and it’s such a great collaboration with the tones of their voices. It has some excellent harmonies the whole way through too!

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

At home I have a little macro keyboard with loads of different programmable buttons and dials for creative tasks that sits on my desk. It’s called a TourBox Neo and it was sent to me  a couple of years ago to review by the company that makes them. I loved it instantly and I’ve been using it ever since for quickly switching workspaces in Blender and Nuke, changing brush sizes, activating keyboard shortcuts etc. It’s a really handy bit of kit!

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

I’d love to work on a music video for one of my favourite rock bands called The Protomen one day. They’re very niche. Their first concept album was based on a video game called Mega Man. The songs have a narrative when played in order and focus on a storyline in a dystopian future. It’s all about how one of the citizens creates a “perfect, unbeatable man”, a robot called Proto Man, to stand up to the oppression. It’s not as weird as it sounds… I highly recommend giving it a listen.

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

The biggest change in the six years I’ve been working in VFX has definitely been the shift towards working from home due to covid. My first few years were the very traditional 5 days a week in the office (often more!) whereas now there’s a lot more flexibility in the way we work and balance our lives. I find it a lot easier to keep up with good habits like exercising and socialising. I think this helps me to do my job better too because I’m more focused when it’s “work” time during the week.

There’s also a lot of buzz about AI workflows at the moment. A lot of creative people seem to be concerned it’s going to replace them. I’ve personally been using AI tools like CopyCat within Nuke and Midjourney as well as a few others to complete small tasks in my day to day job. I’ve found it really speeds up the creative process and allows me to get to something more interesting faster, without ever feeling like it will one day take my job! I’m excited to see where it continues to progress.