Kelly Clarkson - Invincible

THE BRIEF

RCA approached the design team at Gupta Media for treatments for an upcoming single from Kelly Clarkson. Of the five treatments pitched, management chose to move forward with mine - a concept that involved using physical letters and paint to tell a story of moving from a dark mental space to one of confidence and fearlessness. 

THE CONCEPT

I prepared a concept unlike anything our team had produced before. Physical, three-dimensional letters and words would be acted upon and sometimes engulfed by their surroundings, mirroring the song’s theme of journeying from a dark place emotionally to a bright and bold one. The original mood board for “Invincible” featured dark liquid juxtaposed with bright, glossy paint colors, both interacting with physical typography.

Production

Following the concept approval, props were sourced, painted, and prepared for filming, a freelance videographer was hired, equipment was rented, and a makeshift studio was set up over the weekend in a conference room in our office.

Prop preparation and the use of clever practical effects were crucial to this video. A small tank filled with water and India ink served as the setting for the first minute of the video. Words were strung together using fishing line, then filmed being pulled beneath the surface of the ink. This footage was played in reverse in the lyric video, so the letters appear to rise out of the ink completely clean. Additionally, many words and letters needed to be reused. Smart prop preparation allowed us to quickly wash and reconfigure letters for future scenes of the video.

With the assistance of two co-workers and our videographer, my small team staged and filmed every scene over the course of one thirteen-hour shoot. The sequences were then edited together, with additional lyrics added digitally in post-production.

post production & delivery

The video footage was edited together, with the rest of the lyrics added in digitally, over the course of the next two days, with the final video delivered in under a week from the concept’s approval. At the time of writing, the Invincible lyric video has garnered over 650,000 views

From concept approval to delivery of the final files, and with the help of an amazing production team, this project was completed in five days.