Light-Paint Piano Player by Ryan Cashman

Ever since the animated short Pika Pika by Takeshi Nagata and Kazue Monno, there’s been a slew of light-animation both in the advertising and indie film worlds. This one by Ryan Cashman takes the technique a step further by offering some fun character animation of a little green creature playing the piano.

A description of the process by Cashman:

Animated light paintings of a little piano player performing. Filmed at night with the lovely I-5 and San Diego skyline in the background. I would like to thank everyone for the fantastic feedback I have received lately. To answer a few questions, I wrote the music and recorded it first. The frames were photographed with a Canon Rebel using 20-30 second exposure time. I used a small green LED keychain light to draw each frame. Once all the positions were photographed they were strung together and synchronized to the music in After Effects.

(Thanks, Tony Canepa)