Synopsis
A hypnotic collage of hand-drawn imagery, photographed objects and shifting graphic forms unfolds around Miss Kenichi's haunting song. A pulsing cursor-like dot acts as a visual thread, moving through layered shapes, textures and symbolic fragments that seem to drift between dream and memory. Abstract scenes of particles, drawings and sculptural forms gradually give way to a running girl near the conclusion. Rather than presenting a conventional narrative, the video builds an enigmatic visual counterpoint to the song, inviting the viewer to connect its images and themes.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was created as a visual counterpoint to the song rather than as a literal narrative. The recurring cursor-dot pulse was one of the first ideas developed for the piece.
- Marcus Fjellstrom had previously made audiovisual work for his own music, but "Who Are You" was his first music video for another artist.
- Several objects, drawings and sculptures from Katrin Hahner's art studio were photographed and incorporated into the animation, linking the video to Miss Kenichi's work as a visual artist.
- Most of the video consists of still photographs, hand-drawn elements and digitally designed images animated through masking, movement and layered compositing.
- The particle-like imagery seen during the choruses was made by filming grains in water while adding drops of food coloring, then digitally inverting the footage.
- The only traditionally animated passage is the running girl near the end, created from approximately six repeated frames.
- Fjellstrom made the piece with Photoshop and Sony Vegas, using a largely self-taught and deliberately unconventional workflow rather than After Effects.
- The production took about three and a half weeks once active work began. Color correction, light fluctuations and dust overlays were used to create the video's warm, 1970s-inspired visual texture.
- "Who Are You" appeared on Miss Kenichi's 2014 album "The Trail" and was also included in the soundtrack of the German film "Free Fall."