Dust My Shoulders Off awards: New York ADC and more

[read italian version]

Another round another award for “Dust My Shoulders Off” by Jane Zhang: this time it’s up to the ADC Annual Awards, the prestigious design competition established in New York and described by media as the Oscar or Pulitzer of the design world.

New York ADC Awards and Dust My Shoulders Off

In the last 97 years the ADC Annual Awards have always honored the excellence of craftsmanship in the world of design, advertising and other creative arts. With nearly a century of history filled with illustration, photography, animation and digital arts, the ADC Annual Awards are a reliable barometer for the industry environments that gives direction for years to come.

The 2017 edition (96th) involved music video filmed by “OUTERSPACE” Leo (Liao Jen Shuai) for the single Dust My Shoulders Off by Jane Zhang. The work, presented in the category “Motion” won the bronze cube.

Dust My Shoulders Off trophy collection

The ADC Award is in addition to the others already won in this year in the following competitions

• Red Dot Award Communication Design in Berlin in which the video was awarded the “Red Dot Best of the Best” in the category “Film & Animation” in August
• Annual International Indipendent Film Festival in Houston, aka WorldFest that in April led to the awarding of the prestigious “Platinum Remi Award” in the category “MUSIC VIDEO Direction / Art Direction”.
• 38th Telly Awards 2017  with as many as 5 awards collected in the prestigious US event. 3 Silver awards for “Art Direction”, “Directing” and “Music Video” categories, and 2 Bronze awards for “Music Video” and “Use of Animation (USA)” categories
• 2017 MTV Global Chinese Music Awards with “Best MV” Award
• LIA London International Award with the bronze award in the “Best Animation” category and entry into the shortlist for the “Best Direction” category

The nominations

Following are the entries in shortlist for other prestigious events:

• Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival)
• Tokyo International Short Film Festival
• 28th Golden Melody Awards (Finalist in the “Best MV” category)

Dust My Shoulders Off toured Europe

That’s right! After the Berlin and London awards, Dust My Shoulders Off continues to traveling Europe. It starts from the Vienna Summer Outdoor Film Festival during which it is shown in the Town Hall Square of the Austrian capital. The projection of a China / Taiwan production is a case quite unique in the history of European festivals.

There is also participation in the Big Cartoon Festival in Moscow, then at the Ventnor Fringe Festival held at the Isle of Wight in England and always in England at the MondoMix Festival.

And more … European Russian television Art channel in the program “The best of the video art from the web”, RTP – Portuguese Radio and Television in the International Documentary, the Slovenian TV station Planet TV, Karnaval Radio Station in Turkey.

Dust Off My Shoulders was also included in Vimeo‘s “Staff Picks”, and many were the newspapers that have written about this video: BBC, Yahoo, Billboard, People, PopCrush, Idolator, E! News and Collater.al only to name a few.

Dust My Shoulders Off: the song and the MV

The song written with Timbaland and Jim Beanz tells about a person who has a hard day but who chooses to shake off the problems. In the video, directed by OUTERSPACE Leo, we see a stressed Jane walking in an art gallery and finds himself catapulted into some of the most famous paintings in the world, and then jumps between the works of Hopper, Van Gogh, Munch, Salvador Dali and other great contemporary artists.

The making of the video has committed staff and the cast of actors continuously for two days and two nights, all immersed in the work that was taking place as it can be an artist in full creative phase.

OUTERSPACE Leo

Born in 1983, Leo Jen Shuai Liao is a famous Taiwanese director with exceptional versatility. In his career Leo has made films, documentaries, TV programs, music and commercials videos. Trained as a graphic designer, he is the founder of two fashion brands, OUTERSPACE e FEVER. He was also a member of CIRCUS, a group of Taiwanese artists known for having created and produced many television programs in the decade 2004-2014.

The challenges of Dust My Shoulders Off

Make a work of art which in turn “represents” creatively famous works of art is a major challenge and, for Dust Off My Shoulders, in addition to the “creative” challenge there’s also the “technology” challenge which is normally intrinsic to the process of realisation the great ideas, especially the visionary ones.

Who better than the director can tell the idea and the difficulties for its realization ?

Singer Zhang Liangying, portrays the role of an office lady and was presented at the beginning of the story. This unlucky lady was blamed by her boss over the phone when she visited the Art Institute of Chicago. Suddenly, she enters a world of famous paintings, and was on her way to a fantastic adventure.

In this MV, we try to connect 12 world-known paintings through interesting and smooth transitions.

The original values of those paintings are re-defined. For example, Van Gogh’s ear is bitten by Mike Tyson; when the girl in the Gleaners looks up, she becomes the Girl with A Pearl Earring; the two men in black at the end of the bridge in the Scream by Edvard Munch are actually MIB, and they scream because they see the big monster in the painting of Dali; and the man in suit sitting with his back to us in the lonely café of the last painting Nighthawks, is Dali, and so on.

The 3D effect of those famous paintings is the largest challenge in this MV. We invited excellent artists to contribute their ideas and skills on all the scenes, costumes, actors and the singer. The innovative shooting methods are extremely experimental, which seems crazy!

Although the concept of the script is radical, weird and wild, the revival of paintings, the integration of the new and the old, the copy of painting lines and the texture presentation in the production process are all challenges. The traditional arts and aesthetics are supported by creativity, and innovative story line and the overwhelming CG are integrated.

The MV was made possible through the efforts of experts in various fields. We hope you enjoy it!

The well-deserved consecration of Dust My Shoulders Off

A few days ago the Taiwanese director OUTERSPACE Leo talking about the creation of DMSO MV said:

We have created, better than anyone else in the world, a classic with an unalterable value over the years !

We fully agree with this statement. Dust Off My Shoulders has pretty much gone down in history for his genius and will always in the annals of many prestigious awards for cinematography and design. Congratulations Leo !

The art of Dust My Shoulders Off

The paintings chosen for the creation of the video are very famous, true milestones of contemporary art:

• “Nighthawks” (1942) by Edward Hopper
• “Selfportrait” (1889) by Vincent van Gogh  [in which Van Gogh is bitten to an ear by Mike Tyson]
• “The Gleaners” (1857) by Jean-Francois Millet
• “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1665) by Johannes Vermeer
• “Christina’s World” (1948) by Andrew Wyeth
• “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884) by Georges Seurat
• “The Scream” (1893) by Edvard Munch  [in which the screamer’s memory is cleared by the Men in Black]
• “The Temptation of St. Anthony” (1946) by Salvador Dalí
• “The summer steps” (1938) by René Magritte
• “Ascending and Descending” (1960) by Maurits Cornelis Escher
• “Another World Gallery” (1946) by Maurits Cornelis Escher
• “The Son of Man” (1964) by René Magritte
• In addition to all the listed paintings finally to be said that when in “Cristina’s World” was fired with the bazooka, the explosion made from it has been realized by adopting the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama painting style.

Dust My Shoulders Off: credits

• Beijing Showcitytimes Culture Communication Co. Ltd
• Beijing Showcitytimes Entertainment Co. Ltd
• Producer: Michael Feng (冯轲)
• Executive Producer: Timbaland
• Producer: Jim Beanz
• Lyricist & Composer: Jim Beanz, Jane Zhang (張靚穎)
• Singer: Jane Zhang (張靚穎)
• Artist Management: Momo Xia (夏茉含)
• Production Coordinator: Bryan Yu (於丹陽)
• Production Team: Outerspace (太空設計)
• Director: Liao Jen Shuai (廖人帥) aka OUTERSPACE Leo
• Fotography: Kedy Yu (遊凱迪)
• Producer: Olan Huang (黃黑輪)
• Assistant Producer: Joe (蕭銘峻)
• Art Director: Premo Fang (方聖翔)
• Assistant Art Director: Emily Tsai (蔡碧芹)
• Texture Artist: Frank Chen (陳新發)
• Gaffer (Lighting): Ming Che Sung (宋明哲)
• Assistent Lighting: Yu jun Yu (余毓鈞)
• Assistent Lighting: Zhen rong Wu (吳振榮)
• Assistent Lighting: Yi tai Lee (李易泰)
• Assistant Camera: Bo Yan Chen (陳柏言)
• Design & Animation DEPT: Grass Jelly Studio (仙草影像)
• Executive Producer: Muh Chen (陳奕仁)
• VFX Supervisor: Weiting Chen (陳威廷)
• Project Manager: TzuWen Liao (廖梓雯)
• Financial Manager: Lulu Chen (陳奕如)
• Producer’s Assistant: Dora Tsai (蔡靜霈), Grace An (安晨)
• 3D Animator: Greg Miao (苗天雨), Nigel Huang (黃勗), Ben Lam (藍俊彬), Janet Wang (王珏凝),
• Jia Hao Cho (卓家豪)
• Compositing: Greg Miao (苗天雨), Nigel Huang (黃勗), Ben Lam (藍俊彬), Janet Wang (王珏凝)
• Compositor’s Assistant: Wen Ting Li (李文婷)
• 3D Animator’s Assistant: Youzi Su (蘇袖惠)
• Designer: Ida Chen (陳志育), Yang Hsi Hsiao (蕭羊希)
• Stylist: Yiko Lee (李小格 李懿格), Hsinlun Lee (李欣倫), Shiashia Chang (颬颬), Franz Chen (陳泓普)
• Photographic Equipment: Hongda Digital Film Co. Ltd
• Lighting Grips Rental: Arrow Cinematic Group
• Auxiliary equipment: Lee Rong Film & TV Equipment Co.
• Art Director: Chen Dao LEE (李承道)
• Assistant Art Director: Mr. Ogay (周義勳), Peihang Huang (黃沛涵), Yo-Yu Cheng (陳又妤)
• Make-up for Jane: Miao-Miao Shen (沈妙玲)
• Hair Stylist for Jane: Ethan Yao (姚介堃)
• Choreographer: Shou-Jie Wang (王守婕)
• Dancers: Ashley Xiang Liu (劉芙綾), Penny Tsai (蔡儀蘋), Karen Kuo (郭靜婷), Shujui Wang (汪書瑞), Clio Vanille, Stephanie Hesterberg
• Actors: Stéphane-Albert Laville [MIB], Junior Caesar [MIB], James Hassan (泰森), Yurkova Olena (嘻哈金發女), 陳正剛 Cheng Kang, Yi Ru Chen (陳奕如)
• David Malcolm Daugherty (咖啡廳白衣服務員)
• Behind-the-scenes: 8ID Studio (魏小旻 . 張天城. 張家毓)
• Awards Submission Administrator: Jia-Shan Wu (吳家姍)

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