Ninjago-Weekend Whip (remix)- Oceanic Whip Animated Music Video Animatic

A few weeks after the flood of Ninjago city, the remaining ninjas deal with the loss of Nya as they find something strange in the water. But, not all is what it seems and they soon find what they truly need in the wake of loss. Takes place between seasons 14 and 15.

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And here we are it's finally done!!! It took another 3 months of on and off work but it’s here!! I said I’d be back lol. At any rate, this animatic is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. For one it’s an original Weekend Whip remix done by me while I was still working on the first animatic titled the “Oceanic Whip”. This whip was originally meant to be an RnB hip hop remix of the weekend whip that then transformed into a more specific seabound-inspired whip as well! I had for a long time wanted to hear a whip version in that style as the whip has touched a few different genres already! (rock, EDM, techno, etc.) and I felt it would be fun to see how it would be. Turns out, little did I know I would end up liking the instrumental of Whip as much as I did! So, I decided to do all the singing mixing and even write a rap for it too! (this might be one of the fave raps I’ve written in a bit as well!) soon after I knew I wanted to make this a video as well. And back in March, it was originally supposed to only be the song and a visualizer. Then it became a 4 scene concept piece. Then 8 scenes than 12…. Then it became basically a mini animatic then 18 scenes then around 28. And after a specific situation, I decided to restructure a lot of it and it then became 38 SCENES! (because apparently, I have no chill). All throughout this time around when it was 4 scenes long, I knew I wanted it to be about the loss of Nya acting more as the B-side to the original animatics' more High energy A side (or perhaps you could consider it the other the A-side). At any rate, this animatic would take a different tone and deal with a heavy subject matter. Think the singer Aalyiah’s song- “Hot like fire” vs her song “The One I Gave My Heart To” both songs on the same single ep. Both with different tons but both great in fitting with each other and feeling like contrasts. Both are great songs and great pieces of art in their own right.

The animatic was always meant to deal with the loss of Nya in one way or another as I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of how it affected the ninja. As someone who has also dealt with some recent loss, I also used this animatic as an opportunity to create a piece encapsulating some of the views I have when it comes to dealing with pain loss, and love all through the lens of Ninjago and its own story. Which is another reason why this one is really close to my heart. Suffice to say everything down to certain choice scenes and movements even reflect those pained feelings you have, when you can't even stand looking at the picture of a loved one you loosed. Or feel the need to be as close to them as possible by being near their “resting place”. How some show their emotions on their sleeves like jay, or some hold them in until they burst like Kai. or how some are the rocks to support others like cole. Each Ninja in this shows a bit of a different grieving process through this. Grief can sometimes get to the point where you start to see the one you loved in everything around even, and that becomes even harder when the one you loved literally became water. So, throughout the video, the Ninja believe they are seeing her essence. Down to dreams that feel like a distant memory, all of which are guiding them somewhere important.
Eachother….

When you miss someone so much some look for any sign of them... However, whether it really is the essence of her or something else is up to you to decide. The idea that even upon leaving our current existence our energy never truly dies but instead transforms is one I care about deeply. This can be anything from the idea of reincarnation to even just what we leave behind on earth the things we’ve done the impact we had the friends we made along the way. Nya now having literally transformed her energy her very being transforming into water something that gives everything life I feel reflects that ideology beautifully in my eyes.

And perhaps I'm putting too much stock into a show about talking plastic lego ninja, but who the heck cares, life’s too short and if I’m inspired I might as well make this the way I see fit. At the end of the day despite once again putting in ALOT of blood sweat and tears, not to mention some health problems showing up (both physical and mental) at the end of the first animatics production into the beginning of this one and once again in the middle (imma be honest I went to the hospital the day the first animatic went up), I’m glad to have been able to create this piece of art. And I hope you all enjoy it! There is more to come and I can't wait for you to see! #ninjago #thefold #crystalized #seabound