Hampshire Alum Evan Viera Animates Coldplay's Interactive Video "Ink"
Coldplay’s new interactive video features the animation work of Hampshire College alum Evan Viera 02F.
Coldplay’s new interactive video features the animation work of Hampshire College alum Evan Viera 02F.
The video, made for the song “Ink” off of the band’s 2014 album Ghost Stories, lets viewers choose their own path through a tale of a man seeking out his lost love. Viera and fellow animation lead John Robson worked with a team of eight animators who created the video in just six weeks for its premiere in late November. Coldplay, he said, felt it matched up well with the song.
“They loved it. They were the best clients,” he said. “One of the cool things about working with other artists is that they know the artistic process. They know when to let you do what you do.”
Viera was connected with Blind, the agency that produced “Ink,” through friend and studio mate Paul Kim, who served as art director on the video. The two are part of a group that works in a shared studio space in downtown Los Angeles that Viera compares to Hampshire’s “Nerdodrome,” the Adele Simmons Hall-based home of Bit Films.
It was through Bit Films that he, co-writer Chris Bishop 00F, co-producer and Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences Chris Perry, and a group of students and alums created the short film Caldera. Caldera won the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction in 2012 among other awards, and Viera says it was a major steppingstone for his career.
Since leaving western Massachusetts for Los Angeles, Viera has worked for Mirada Studios (formed by directors Guillermo del Toro and Mathew Cullen), created iPad apps and music videos, and is developing an animated series with fellow Hampshire alum Charley Pope 07F, whom he met while making Caldera.
“I feel very fortunate to have been able to make Caldera at Hampshire,” he said. “By far, it’s been the most important part of how I’ve been able to grow and network. It was an incredible opportunity for which I feel indebted to Hampshire.”
View stills from Viera's animation for "Ink" »
Pictured: Coldplay's Chris Martin with Evan Viera
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