Anonymous Content director Grant Singer and The Mill VFX crew keep viewers off kilter by yanking them from one surreal tableau to the next in The Weeknd’s soaring “Call Out My Name.”
Opening on a deserted street corner and focused entirely on The Weeknd’s passionate performance, the film seems to promise little beyond a stylish and moody couple minutes.
Then suddenly, at the :58 mark, a colony of CG bats erupt and the film never looks back, transitioning into strange wildlife dioramas, a 2001-style spaceship interior, and finally a dystopian apartment block complete with a deeply horrific resident.
Artist: The Weeknd
Production: Anonymous Content
Director: Grant Singer
Executive Producer: Nina Soriano
Producer: Saul Germaine
Director of Photography: Alexis Zabe
VFX: The Mill
Executive Producer: Anastasia von Rahl
Producer: Daniel Midgley
Creative Director: Becky Porter
Shoot Supervisor: David Lawson
VFX Supervisor: David Lawson
2D Lead Artist: Jason Bergman
3D Lead Artist: David Lawson
2D Artist: Tim Robbins, Jake Albers, Jeannie Huynh (Remedy), Stephen Paragone, Peter Sidoriak, Young-Joon Mok, Kai Chun Tsai, Adam Lambert, Gavin Marler
3D Artist: Chase Webb, Peter Claes, Michael Lori
Matte Painting: Ed Laag
Tracking: Alice Panek
Editorial: Exile
Editor: Nate Gross