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[Music Video] A B-List Toon Tries to Make It in LA

SNL guitarist Jared Scharff's solo project Pearl Lion channels 'Roger Rabbit' in new half-animated, half IRL video for Alpha4.
Images courtesy the artist

Making it in LA is the dream of budding starlets, rock bands, and now a cartoon video game robot, thanks to a new music video by SNL guitarist Jared Scharff's solo project Pearl Lion. Both the song and our animated protagonist are called "Alpha4" and was animated by Scharff's sister Samantha Scharff and Fox ADHD. The video takes us through a normal day for Alpha4 in a city that feels like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'s toon-ified LA, but in the 21st century.

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Alpha4 is a Megaman-like robot trying to remain happy while also pursuing a music career and doing laundry in the big city. Rather than fighting other robots and hordes of laser-averse minions, Alpha4 must navigate capitalism, romance, and the treacherous LA bar and music venue scene while trying to keep his confidence and happiness intact. "It's kind of an analogy for my music," Jared Scharff tells The Creators Project. "An unorthodox music project looking for a home. Moving away from what's expected, following my own bliss. In my heart, my biggest belief is that if this music makes me feel something, it will do the same for others. And that's what it's all about."

When he started composing the Alpha4 song, Jared Scharff didn't quite imagine the amalgam of video game references, emoji, and Adventure Time-worthy exploration that the video would became. We spoke to the Scharff siblings about bringing the concept to life and their collaboration on the video.

How did you come together to work on this video?

Jared Scharff: After figuring out this whole concept I realized it needed to be IRL with animation. And at that point, I knew Sam was the best person to work with. Her experience in animation and production is insane. TV Funhouse producer at SNL, FOX ADHD, Tom Hanks Electric City, etc. And she's my sister so there's complete trust there.

How would you describe the moral of the story?

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It's a story about a B-list video game hero (toon named "Alpha4") who gets bullied and laughed at throughout the day for being "different." He makes his way through a typical day in LA (laundromat, bars, Hollywood Blvd, etc.) looking to find a place where everyone fits in, toons and humans alike. By the end of the video, he finds a place where all toons and humans exist together and even finds love! Ultimately, it's the story about finding a place where the differences in all of us are celebrated.

Why did you decide to make the video half animation half IRL?

The title "Alpha4" was always a working title for the song. After it was fully recorded, I remember listening to it and envisioning this little video game hero boppin' around. I had that "ah ha" moment and realized this character was actually Alpha4! I wanted the viewer to know he was different instantly from the human world just by the visual alone. The most obvious way was for him to be an animated toon in a real human world. I desperately wanted that juxtaposition even though I knew it would be a much more challenging and lengthy process.

How did you feel when you first heard the song?

Samantha Scharff: All of Jared's songs have a strong emotional pull. I heard the song after he told me the loose concept so I was influenced by that when I listened. I could feel the emotions of the character and the entire arc of what his heart goes through from beginning to end. Most of the songs on Pearl Lion's EP give me chills. This is not sibling bias! It's just truth.

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Alpha4 seems like a crazy mix of Megaman and Finn from Adventure Time. Who were some of the creative influences on the world you've created?

SS: Exactly! You just got the influences. Plus throw in Evan Red Borja on top of that. He has a great style, so this was the result of giving him those references and infusing his design.

How far is the final product from your initial ideas?

JS: INSANELY different!! I created the song never knowing what the title meant and came up with this "a day in the life" of A4 concept. I brought it to a very good friend of mine, Blaise Beyhan, who helped take the story to a whole different dimension. His input and writing was huge in shaping my initial idea to the story you see in the vid. Then I brought in Dan Huiting who I had done two videos with. We shot all the scenes in LA and Minneapolis. I had to describe what A4 looked like in my head so Dan could figure out how to shoot the scenes and leave the right space for A4 as animation. After the vid was cut, Dan asked me to make the song longer! He thought more time would let the story play out better so I ended up adding an entire new section to the song. Never saw that one coming.

Once Sam got the treatment, storyline and vid from us FOX ADHD started character building. Sam asked for character refs and I probably sent them over 30 photos for the main animated characters (A4, Tommy Octo the Octopus Drummer, the Pearl Lion door guy based on that famous Berlin doorman, etc). For example, for Tommy Octo the drummer I sent photos of vintage Tommy Lee Motley Crüe and Neil Pert (Rush's drummer). We gave the animators total license to come up with the characters from the refs. I thought I had a good idea of what it was going to look like after the final animatic but then the first draft of animation came in and I was speechless. It's so incredible to see how every person's input changes each element all the way to the final product.

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Listen to more Pearl Lion on Soundcloud, keep up with Jared Scharff on Twitter, and watch more cool videos on Fox ADHD.

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