Scott Rudd is a creative director based in the UK who specializes in music-related work. His career took off approximately three years ago, when work on a music video for his own band caught the attention of another artist, who commissioned him to create their music video. He remembers making just $25 for the full-lyric video, but it was a launch pad that led to a steady stream of music projects ever since.
“Everything is music-based,” says Rudd of his work. “I’ve done live action and editing in the past, but usually it’s all animation work. I like to stay competitive in the market, and was in a band a long time ago. I know how hard it is, especially when you put all the money back into the band for instruments and recording. I like to keep it as low as possible, so I am competitive and affordable for lesser bands that are not on Nuclear Blast or Sumerian Records.
Most recently, Rudd worked with Sumerian Records recording artists September Mourning, creating a music video for the band’s “Skin and Bones” track. September Mourning’s band members — September Mourning, Riven, Wraith and Shadou — each have their own comic-book persona. The band released their “Volume II” album on July 29th along with Issue #2 of the comic book collaboration with acclaimed artist ("X-Men," "Witchblade," "The Darkness") Marc Silvestri. Both forms of media intertwine to create a musical and visual story.
Rudd had worked with the band’s management team in the past and knew of their comic and style, so when he was contacted to create Skin and Bones, his answer was a confident “yes!”
According to the director, he was provided with two folders of digital imagery used in the band’s comics.
“They sent me all the images — flat images — and I had to go through them one by one and cut out all the different parts, and make my own speech bubbles.”
Rudd used Adobe Photoshop to cut out imagery and to fill in backgrounds. He then used After Effects to add motion to the imagery and bring the comic-themed video to life. He ended up using all of the images from Issue #2, but still needed a bit more material to complete the project.
“For the very end scene, that’s from a different comic of theirs,” he notes. “Just to extend the scene out slightly because I used literally the whole thing. Up until she knocks on the door and opens the door, and goes into the room, after that it was from a different comic.”
Rudd spent just two days working on the project. “I had about four or five days to work on it, but when I was watching it back, it just felt right. I didn’t need to change anything. It was two days of hard work.”
The final music video runs 3:15 and was created in 1080p HD.
“They gave me 100 percent freedom, creatively,” Rudd recalls. “They said, ‘Here’s the comic strip. Do what you’ve got to do.’”