Jamie Caliri: The Shins “The Rifle’s Spiral”


Jamie Caliri’s music video for The Shins “The Rifle’s Spiral” is an otherworldly magic show. I love how the chairs grow into existence, and there’s a falling sequence at the climax of the video that’s particularly stunning. The heroine and camera motion in it feel particularly dynamic.

For the video, Caliri and his team used a motion control camera system called Volo and Caliri’s own DragonFrame software. Nowness reports that a 3D version of the film exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS is also in the works. A behind the scenes video is below.

Caliri has previously been featured on Motionographer for his work on United Airlines “Dragon”, United Airlines “Heart”, Lemony Snicket End Titles, and United States of Tara titles.


Direction: Jamie Caliri
Production Designer / Co-Director: Alexander Juhasz
Editor: Steve Beebe
Lead Animator: Anthony Scott
Animators: Matt Manning, Mike Johnson, Rachel Larsen, Rich Zimmerman
Post Production Supervisor: Damien Christian D’Amico
Puppet Fabrication: Pablo Grande Weiss, Yoriko Murakami, Robyn Yannoukos
Scenic Artist: Vera Long
Prop Artist: Kristen Droney
Set Designer: Neva Williams
Production Manager: Elyse Kelly, Susan Bell
Stage Manager: Matthew Manning