Andrew Thomas Huang guides us through the making of his Grammy-nominated music video.

When FKA twigs unleashed ‘Cellophane’ upon the world, she made it clear that how the song looked was just as important as how it sounded. “When I wrote cellophane over a year ago a visual narrative came to me immediately”, she said in a statement from last year. “I knew I had to learn how to pole-dance to bring it to life, and so that’s what I did.”

An infinite pole dancing pole, a sphinx with twigs’ face and a womb-like, subterranean cavern of red clay are just some of the images Andrew Thomas Huang’s jaw-dropping, Grammy-nominated visual accompaniment burned into our collective psyche, making up a self-contained dreamscape within which the song and the surreal imagery coalesce into a singular, soaring vision.

To kick off the second week of his FACT residency, Huang guides us through the making of ‘Cellophane’, demonstrating how a combination of live choreography, intricate CG design, puppetry and practical effects came together in a masterpiece of contemporary world-building.

By showing the working behind his process, Huang once again establishes his practice as in part a continued exploration of hybridity and synthesis, blending live action and visual effects to bring FKA twigs’ visual narrative to life.

For more information about Andrew Thomas Huang and his work, you can visit his website and follow him on Instagram.

FKA twigs – ‘Cellophane’ Credits:

Director: Andrew Thomas Huang
Production Company: Object & Animal
Exec. Producer: Morgan Clement & Dom Thomas
Producer: Alex Chamberlain
Local Production: Radioaktive Film

Stylist: Matthew Josephs & Ed Marler
Hair: Virginie P. Moreira
Make-up Artist & Mask Design: Kabuki

Cinematography: Daniel Fernández Abelló
Choreography: Kelly Yvonne
Production Design: Fiona Crombie
Featuring: Efua Baker

Visual Effects by: Analog
Editor: Andrew Thomas Huang
Sound: Ben Tomastik @ Lime
Grade: Aubrey Woodiwiss @ Carbon

Watch next: Andrew Thomas Huang Presents – Lily Chan and the Doom Girls