A curious kid and an anthropomorphic fox are best friends, building rockets from cardboard boxes and traveling the galaxy with their imaginations, in the new music video for Kishi Bashi's "Q&A," animated by Nick Refuerzo, off the former's second studio album, Lighght (Joyful Noise Records). The latter's 2.5D tale reeks of Calvin and Hobbes' savory influence, captivating themes of innocence and imagination through the eyes of a child, as multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi croons and strums his bittersweet notes.
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Refuerzo's characters are named Sofia and Bagel the Fox, and their imaginary adventures will appeal to any fan of Bill Watterson's classic strip. Their adventures illuminate the inner child, but when an unexpected disaster thrusts Sofia back into the real world, the tone of "Q&A" turns sharply from nostalgic to depressingly relatable."As you grow older, you have to pay bills and be a functioning person. I’ve had to settle down and repay my massive student debt, and in the process I’ve kind of given up what I love doing," Refuerzo tells The Creators Project. To support himself when he's not animating music videos or cutting together films, Refuerzo edits broadcast for CBS and NBC. He continues, "As much as I’d like to say this video is for Kishi Bashi’s 'Q&A,' it’s also for me."The Creators Project spoke to Refuerzo about working with Kishi Bashi, animating in 2.5D, and following his dreams.
The Creators Project: How did you hear about Kishi Bashi?Nick Refuerzo: My director friend Jessica Paliza introduced me to Kishi Bashi a couple years ago and I really liked it. I mostly remember because she told me some lyrics in "Wonder Woman, Wonder Me" were Japanese for the sound a bell makes (Kin-kon-kan-kon). I've been hooked ever since. And now I wonder how other sounds are translated in different languages.How did you feel when you first heard "Q&A"?At first I thought it felt very different from the rest of Lighght. In the middle of the album everything was just stripped away for something very minimal and intimate. I was on my way to work, turned it up, rolled my windows down, and felt good. I felt like everything was going to be fine, like I did when I was younger. But then a cop pulled up next to me at a stop light, and I got embarrassed and turned it down to look like a proper adult again. The song was just pretty and fun at first, but the more and more I listened to it the more it meant to me.
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What is the basic narrative for the video you've created, in your own words? How close is it to your initial idea for the video?The story is about Sofia, a little girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut. With her trusty friend Bagel the Fox, they blast off into space for an adventure. Their fun gets derailed when two aliens appear and chase them towards a black hole. Bagel is attacked after trying to rescue Sofia from aliens, then gets sucked into the black hole. Sofia rushes in to save him but realizes that they can’t escape the black hole. She sacrifices herself to push Bagel out of the event horizon and succumbs to the black hole. She lives her life without her best friend, without her ambition, and slowly grows old. Bagel travels through space and time save her one last time. They meet once again when she’s an old woman. Reunited, she remembers her old dreams of being an astronaut and prepare for liftoff once more.My initial idea was a bit different. It had lots more action and explosions, but it didn't really mean anything. Instead of thinking "what would be fun to watch" I started thinking about what mattered to me at this point in my life, and the story became about never giving up your love and your dreams.The style is childlike and minimal, but complex. How did you arrive at that aesthetic for this video in particular.“Q&A” felt very stripped down to me. It felt very minimal and intimate, like I was sitting in a backyard and I got to hear Kishi Bashi play unplugged and sing about a nostalgic love. It’s one of the reasons I was so drawn to the song. It made me imagine something simple, pure and from the heart.
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Admittedly, I can’t draw well. Anything I make looks childlike and minimal by default. What I can do however is build scenes and layer things to look okay. I’ve always been obsessed with a 2D / 2.5D aesthetic, paper cutouts and flat designs because it was a way to hide my inability to draw, and the aesthetic makes me happy and giggle. I scanned several bad watercolor paintings for some texture and took lots of real galaxy pictures from the Space Hubble Telescope and layered them.It was mostly trial and error, and figuring out a consistent look that matched the beautiful simplicity of the song. I know there are infinite amounts of better looking things out there right now by really talented artists and animators. I know I can never ever compete with them, so I just wanted to do what I felt “Q&A” does: something pure and honest from the heart, and see where that takes you.
I can't decide whether the moral of the story is "Never grow up," or "It's never too late to reach your inner child." Or something else. Can you speak to that?For me, the song and the video are about never giving up on your love and your dreams, dreams you had growing up. As you grow older, you have to pay bills and be a functioning person. I’ve had to settle down and repay my massive student debt, and in the process I’ve kind of given up what I love doing.As much as I’d like to say this video is for Kishi Bashi’s “Q&A”, it’s also for me. It’s me saying to myself no matter how many aliens and black holes you come across, don’t forget you want to be an astronaut.
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God, that stamping office job scene is really awful, and cuts right to the fears of a lot of young people today. Where did that visual come from?I needed something simple to convey Sofia losing her ambition, imagination and her dreams. The first thing that popped up in my head was a repetitive office job.I struggled with using that scene because it is a very cliche picture of banality. But I know I had a limited amount of time to convey a message, and I have to use clear, iconic and recognizable imagery to show the fear of growing up and losing your soul to survive. That, and the movie Brazil.
What software / tools did you use to make the video?I used several Adobe products (Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects). I also used watercolors and a wacom tablet, but I tried to hide that work as much as possible with the stuff I did in After Effects.What's next for you as an artist?I’m hoping to continue animating and editing videos because I’ll go crazy otherwise. My brain goes crazy if I’m not working on something creative, and I need to counter my normal mundane adult person job. My hope is to one day be able to do something I love and be creative for a living, but I guess that’s what everyone says.Fortunately, I sort of fell in love with Sofia and Bagel. They felt like a new Calvin and Hobbes to me, so I’m hoping to have more adventures with them. I’ll probably throw a puppy into the mix too. I love puppies.
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