SKIPTON animator Virpi Kettu spent lockdown creating a video for the Grammy nominated recording artist and American Idol judge, Katy Perry.

The video accompanies the song ‘Resilient’ from the American singer songwriter’s album, ‘Smile’, which was released at the end of August.

A ‘stop motion’ animation video, it was directed by USA based Aya Tanimura, commissioned by Hound Content production house and created in Skipton by Virpi and her Kettu Studios collective of local and national artists.

The crew worked in isolation bubbles, filming at the High Corn Mill for two months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The video tells the story of a cherry tree growing against the odds of life’s challenges, and is said to be a metaphor for resilience and a reflection on the interesting career of Katy Perry, who has just had her first child with fiance, Orlando Bloom.

The puppets were inspired by Japanese Kokeshi dolls and were co-designed by Tanimura and Virpi and hand-made by model maker Matt J Yates.

Virpi, who learned her trade working for the creators of Wallace and Gromit, Aardman Animations, and is no stranger to the world of music, having in the past created films for Radiohead and Run The Jewels, said working on the film kept spirits up during lockdown.

“The lockdown was an eerie time and a logistical challenge. We had to work in small isolated household groups. For some of the model makers the materials and concept drawings were posted to so they could work from home,” she said.

“We were connected via multiple daily video calls, texts and emails. The project kept a handful of talented creatives in work during this difficult time. But most of all it kept our spirits up, a true story of resilience.”

Resilient is part of the The Smile video series on YouTube and can be seen at: https://youtu.be/LNHM5CcvMm0