British R&B singer/songwriter Jay Sean is notable for being one of the first British-Asian crossover stars and also for his international popularity. After much success in the UK and internationally, Sean signed with Cash Money Records in 2008 and has since produced several Billboard Hot 100 hits. In 2009 Sean collaborated with Lil Wayne to produce the popular dance track ‘Down’.

For this video, the client wanted to see a fantasy club setting in a neon-lit futuristic city. Production studio Lution Media asked me to handle the design and compositing work, with 3D artwork provided by B Digital Studios. It began with chroma keying and cleaning up the green screen footage which proved to be a challenge because of how the footage was shot – the stage had many performers crossing paths and club furniture with thin lines which would disappear if you weren’t careful with the key settings. Add to that the fact that there were studio lights on the set changing brightness and in turn the color of the green screen which made it difficult to key out. Needless to say a lot of rotoscoping was needed to give it the polished look we were after.

Once the actors were separated from the green screen, we started designing and animating the artwork for all the different environments, adding camera moves, lighting and particle effects, and polishing it with lens flares to give it a finished look. After more than a month of post-production work and a few sleepless nights, we had finally nailed it and delivered a memorable video that the client and their artists were very happy with!