Click 3X provides the visual effects in a stylistic and satirical music video for Mark Ronson’s international hit cover of the Smith’s classic, Stop Me, where the streets of Los Angeles overflow with animated tears.

The video opens with Mark Ronson walking alone at night. Passing a lonely woman, he notices large blue cartoon tears streaming down her face, leaving a trail of puddles behind her. As the song builds and Ronson navigates the city, he encounters more women, each with cartoon tears pouring from their otherwise emotionless faces.

The puddles coalesce into streams, the streams into rivers, the rivers into waterfalls, until the entire setting is awash in a rising current of vibrant tear drops. Ronson finally wades through the chest deep water to meet up with Daniel Merriweather, who is also featured in Stop Me. As dawn breaks and the music slows, the torrent of tears subsides and both the eyes of the original woman, as well as the city streets, begin to dry.

From Director Matt Lenski of Draw Pictures:
The song has a grand orchestral feel, but also has a real coolness to it. We wanted to capture that emotional outpouring with a really original video, yet introduce elements of satire with the tears. The effects played a major role in supporting the story; as the emotional drive of the song gains momentum, so do these huge cartoon tears. The musical flow and the animation worked really well together to create a totally unified storyline.

From Click 3X VFX Supervisor Mark Szumski:
From a VFX perspective, the piece was really complex. It included over 100 effects shots as well as 10 three-dimensional components. We wanted to give the tears- which were illustrated by Todd James (AKA REAS) ?Äì a totally unique look and feel, so this involved significant motion testing to create the right flow. Working under really tight time constraints, the real challenge was orchestrating the visual effects with the flow of the song, creating the perfect visual environment to support the depth and emotion without a lot of time to go back and forth.

Click 3X continues to build on an impressive run of VFX for web, print and broadcast media. With Stop Me, the company was able to leverage many of the techniques used in the highly- acclaimed clip they developed with MTV for Dr. Octagon hit Trees.

About Click 3X
Click 3X produces cutting-edge visual solutions for advertising, broadcast, and entertainment clients around the globe. Founded in 1993, New York-based Click 3X has become the preeminent digital studio led by artists and supported by the most advanced technology in the industry. With award-winning design, powerful visual effects, and a visionary animation team, Click 3X lends both its talent and resources to a wide range of both innovative and influential projects. www.click3x.com

CREDS
Prod Company: Draw Pictures
Director: Matt Lenski
DP: Ketil Dietrichson
Illustrator/Designer: Todd James
EP: Phil Tidy

Post/Effects: Click 3X
VFX Supervisor/Lead VFX/Inferno Artist: Mark Szumski
Additional Flame: Aaron Vasquez, Yoshiko Hirata
Flame Assistant: Sarah Cargiulo
Lead After Effects: Matt St. Leger
Additional After Effects: Tom Matheu
Head of CGI: Anthony Filipakis
EP: Jason Mayo
Producer: Cara Buckley
Editorial: Now Corporation
Editor: Owen Plotkin
Assistant Editor: Matt Toder
EP: Nancy Finn