Singing the Covid blues away: This music video was made using only Apple Memojis

Music producer and singer Salim Merchant came together with singers Armaan Malik and Nikita Gandhi to create an animated video made entirely with Apple Memojis.

Sung by Armaan Malik and Nikita Gandhi, the music video has two Memoji characters Ady and Ada who are driving their way through life in a very futuristic car, singing those Covid blues away. (YouTube)

The global pandemic still has us all staying in, and life as we used to know it has taken a complete turn. Messaging apps have become vital while video calls have become the go-to solution for office work to birthday parties.

And speaking of messaging apps, it's always fun to infuse them with something interesting to make things more uniquely you. Besides your stock emojis, Android users can take their pick between Bitmojis or something like the new avatars Samsung introduced and Apple users have their Memojis.

In case you are not an Apple user and have no Apple users in your circle and therefore have no idea what a Memoji is, don't worry. That's what we are here for.

 

Apple’s Memoji is an avatar you can make for yourself from the iMessage app on your iPhone or iPad. (Apple )

Apple’s Memoji is an avatar you can make for yourself from the iMessage app on your iPhone or iPad. (Apple )

Apple's Memoji is an avatar you can make for yourself from the iMessage app on your iPhone or iPad. You can customise this Memoji to look like you or go as wild as you want - the world is your playground. Once your Memoji is made, you can use it as stickers on WhatsApp, Instagram and iMessage. You can also animate your Memojis and use them in various social media platforms and messaging apps and use it in place of your face, like a mask, on Apple FaceTime.

You can create a Memoji sticker on any device with iOS 13 or iPadOS, but you need an iPhone X or later, iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) to create and use an animated Memoji.

Ok, not that you know, imagine creating an entire music video using Memojis. That's exactly what music producer, composer and singer Salim Merchant did for a song called Beech Raaste that's been launched today on Apple Music (don't worry, it's there on other platforms too).

Sung by Armaan Malik and Nikita Gandhi, the music video has two Memoji characters Ady and Ada who are driving their way through life in a very futuristic car, singing those Covid blues away.

A first of its kind in the industry (we have seen animated music videos before but not one with Memojis), this music video was shot without these ‘characters' meeting each other at all. Now this is what we call responsible art.

We had a chat with Merchant to learn a little more about how and why this project came about and here's what we learned -

How and why did you decide to use Memojis for this project? And why use Memojis and gfx while the singers' bodies are still human (am sorry there was no better way to word this)? Why not go with all animation on this?

Apple's Memoji technology is so beautiful it really captures the facial gestures and especially the lip movements and eye expressions. There's something really amazing about having the real human body along with the face Memoji. All-animation is just done (and dusted) and it would have taken too long to create it at the level we were imagining.

Memojis are not new and Apple users have been using them to make short videos, so what made you decide on using them now?

You have to see this video to believe what we've done with this technology. We wanted to create two characters Ady and Ada driving in a futuristic world through the city and the countryside. Yes, there have been videos with Apple Memojis before, but not like this - this one is a combination of computer graphics and 3D animation.

Which parts of this song are shot on the iPhone? What other hardware and software did you use to bring this entire project together?

The entire video has been shot on the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max. All the other visuals are created on various platforms ranging from Adobe Premiere to Adobe After Effects, Photoshop and 3ds Max.

Are you planning on making more songs like this?

Yes, we are going to make a series of songs with Ady and Ada using the same technology.

Why launch it on Apple Music?

The team at Apple Music is very supportive and they really value the creative community.

How challenging has it been for you and your art to deal with Covid-19 lockdowns? And how has technology helped you here?

Actually it's been very creative, we do a lot of gigs so we travel a lot. The lockdown has made us structure our record label which was long overdue. We've written seven songs and mixes and made an album using Audiomovers, which is a real-time audio software. We've also shot two music videos following all the rules of social distancing.

The lockdown has been very productive. And this is all thanks to technology!

Like we've told you earlier, the song has been launched on Apple Music but is available across other music streaming platforms as well. Just in case you did not know, Apple Music can be used on Android phones as well, you just need to download the app and make an Apple account.

Apple Music comes with a three-month free trial and post that it is ₹99 per month. Apple Music also has a Family Plan at ₹149 and the Apple Music Student Membership that's just ₹49 per month.