Meet Conor Ryan: The Irish Animator Who Worked On The Gorillaz Video For ‘Saturnz Barz’
Words: Rachel Hannon
Conor Ryan studied Animation at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology before a healthy career of animation in the music world and beyond.
He has worked as a lead character animator in 2D and 3D in London with many studios, including; Territory, Passion Pictures, Blink Ink, and so many more. His core freelance work for Gorillaz took place at the famous production house Passion Pictures, which has handled the band’s visuals for decades.
Conor Ryan worked as a Freelance 2D Character Animator during the launch of the band’s fifth studio album, Humanz (2017). His workload specifically included: The ‘Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)’ music video. For this, he animated the 2D characters of 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel for this groundbreaking, highly-stylized sci-fi horror video.
You can find more animations and stills from the music video here.
He also worked on the Song Machine album (2020) as Animation Supervisor. Rather than just drawing frame-by-frame, he managed teams of animators to ensure everyone perfectly executed Jamie Hewlett’s signature art style.
Check out the Gorillaz ‘Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)‘ video here:
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