Bright World is the solo musical project of actor, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Evan M. Williams. As an actor, Williams has gained worldwide popularity with his memorable roles on Versailles for BBC/Netflix U.S. (for which he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award), fan favorite “Awkward for MTV and most recently the starring role in the feature film Midnight At The Magnolia in which he sings and plays. Midnight at the Magnolia was Top 5 in U.S. and Top 10 via worldwide streams on Netflix in winter 2020. Williams has finished two films slated for 2022 and will star in “Christmas Takes Flight” airing on CBS winter 2021.
Today, Bright World will release a brand new single and video for ‘The Future Begins Today” from his forthcoming album Cloud Parade. The video for the track was created by Williams spending over 250 hours learning to make his own stop motion clip.
“There is this seeming ratcheting up of the flow of news and images, evidence of a planet and society under increasing strain, and with it a sneaking suspicion that there must be a multitude of information we’re missing in the constant torrent,” Williams shared. “I realized that collage animation would allow me to explore visually, the contradictory feelings, the scale and complexity of being alive on Earth in 2021, and set about trying to figure out how to make it happen.”
I’ve never done any kind of animation before, so there was a huge learning curve. At the same time I was excited to be working in a new medium for the first time, and the artist part of me was fascinated with the process. I spent days on the internet trying to figure out how to cobble together my own DIY setup. I read about a big multi-plane animation rig that Disney pioneered in the mid-1900’s, the golden age of animation. I decided to make that my model and through the process of trial and error, made a setup that was both practical, portable, and affordable. I created a simple vertical rig of glass panes that allowed for four levels of depth on which to animate. There were no templates, I simply drew up some designs and started constructing.”
