Hornet Director Sam Mason spins up a magical stream of dreamlike imagery for “Colors and Shapes” off the new official release of rapper and record producer Mac Miller’s Faces mixtape.

Mason teamed with the family of Miller (who died in 2018) to conceptualize the visuals for the album which was originally released independently for free download on Mother’s Day of 2014.

Sam Mason: “From the beginning, I was aware of something really heartfelt in the music, and I wanted to come up with something that felt very genuine.

“Faces is considered by many to be Miller’s magnum opus for its unique, jazzy production and themes of personal exploration. The lyrics of ‘Colors and Shapes’ are at once meditative and metaphorical, psychedelic and psychological, a selfless journey and self-reflection all in one.

In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood — growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience.

“I asked Malcolm’s family to send me bits and pieces from his childhood, scenes from the town where he grew up, objects, toys from his room — little pieces of his life that I extrapolated outwards and used to inspire the story.

“In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood — growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience. It’s a look at the emotional, difficult, and perilous but noble path of an artist.

“The process was really fluid and wonderful. There was a real sense of camaraderie. We were letting the film take us where it wanted, and we just made space to let it become what it needed to.

“It was important to us that this was 100% a passion project. But a passion project that involved a very important context that we had to honor and a legacy and audience we didn’t want to let down.

“As much time was spent on pre-production as on production in order to get the characters and flow of the story right. During actual production, there was a core team of five animators working around the clock for three weeks to animate the film.”
 

 
Client: 4 Strikes, Karen Meyers
Commissioner: Miller McCormick

Production: Hornet
Director: Sam Mason
Head of Creative Development: Kristin Labriola
Executive Producer: Hana Shimizu
Producer: Hanna Smith-Ide
Associate Producer: Heather Hardin
Senior Animator: Daniel Callaby, Clement Pierre, Jim Bierton
Animator: Meg Oswalt, Monica Stevenson
Storyboard Artist: Camillo Clauser
Environment Designer: Chiara Benedetti
Character Designer: Jeff Jank
Previs: Meg Oswalt
Rigging: George Smaragdis
Look Dev: Nicole Noel, Sam Mason
Modeling/Texturing: Nicole Noel, Douglas Silva, Ivan Joy, Laney Lai, Emily Mai, Neil Jackson
Groom: Giovani Kososki
Editor: Sam Stulin