Synopsis

Moullinex appears as a shifting collection of digital particles rather than as conventional filmed performers. Human figures and musical instruments emerge from point clouds, break apart, and transform into one another as the electronic track progresses. Bass, keyboards, and other performance elements are rendered as data, with the camera moving freely through the scanned forms. Rain overlays and a vintage stereoscopic treatment give the otherwise technical imagery a tactile, dreamlike atmosphere.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Catalina" was released as part of Moullinex's "Chocolat" EP, issued by Gomma Records in January 2011.

• The video was created with a Microsoft Kinect, Processing, Cinema 4D, and After Effects, making it an early example of Kinect being used for a finished music-video artwork rather than only as a technical demonstration.

• The footage was recorded in a living room. The production used eight or nine short filmed sequences as the source material for the digital imagery.

• Kinect data was processed in Cinema 4D, allowing the creators to reposition the captured material and generate new camera angles after filming.

• The video experiments with several ways of plotting the captured data. A point cloud interacts with the audio, while one scanned performer morphs into another, including the bass player and keyboard player.

• The production team initially felt that the raw footage looked too cold. Rain was added during post-production, along with a vintage 3D look, to make the images feel more atmospheric and human.

• The project grew out of interest in computer-generated imagery based on 3D scans. Kinect made this kind of experimentation far more accessible than dedicated 3D-scanning equipment.

• The creators credited the Kinect-hacking community as an important influence and intended to keep their code and project materials open, encouraging others to develop the technique further.