UMK 2023
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu
One of the most anticipated annual musical events in Finland is the selection of a performance to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place at Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. It is televised live by Yle, the national public broadcasting company of Finland.
Following art direction by Ari Levelä, I prepared a variety of animated elements for two of UMK 2023's performances - the opening and interval acts - as well as the zero screen used as a stage background for host segments. All 3D work was done in Cinema 4D and rendered with Redshift, with Procreate used for custom texturing.
Role:
Motion Design, Character Design, Animation
Client:
Credits:
Stage Design and Art Direction: Ari Levelä
Video: UMK (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu) / Yle
Photos: Miikka Varila & Nelli
Logo animation and zero screen
The zero screen's visual style incorporates UMK's striking pink and purple branding, and was made specifically with TV broadcasting in mind - utilising the set camera perspectives to enhance an effect of depth within the screens.
The scene featured a subtle loop animation to act as a backdrop during host segments, as well as opening and closing sections to seamlessly transition the screen to and from other visuals. The logo was animated utilising particle effects. A video of the 3D stage simulation used for testing the scene can be found below.
Samu Haber - Syödään sieniä. (Interval act)
The demand made by Samu Haber in "Syödään sieniä" is straightforward - "eat mushrooms!". And so, the visual direction for the act was kept direct as well, unveiling a world of creatures sporting the most recogniseable fungus pattern - white and red.
The key feature of this project was customising preexisting animal models with hand-drawn mushroom patterns. This was done in Procreate, utilising its 3D model painting features. The various mushroom creatures were then animated with mocapped sequences and rendered in an assortment of loops and transitions. This facilitated easy assembly in post, allowing the animations to be accurately matched with the singer's performance.
Bess - Lähtee käsistä (Opening act)
Drawing inspiration from the neon cyberpunk aesthetics of Tron, the "Lähtee käsistä" visual set produced by Ari Levelä called for a seamless digital cityscape to act as a backdrop for a futuristic motorcycle getaway.
The animated loop consists of elements arranged on 3 planes - foreground, mid and background - with each plane moving at a different speed to imply depth and perspective. These visuals were also prepared with the TV broadcast point of view in mind, and a video of the stage 3D simulation for the set can be found below.
Photos from the event
