JoeyTomatoes.com [This Posterous website is no longer available on the Internet] provides great background information on the recently released video by Charlex, for which Gabriel Byrne provides the narration. The video is entitled Shapeshifter:

The project began as a challenge of sorts, when Charlex Founder and Director Alex Weil – the creative force behind the 2006 classic One Rat Short – asked a handful of Charlex designers to imagine a project of their choice. “Our original intent was simply to have an unfettered creative outlet for the many talented people that are part of our company,” Weil said . . .

. . . “It was a thrill to have Gabriel Byrne do the voice acting for our piece,” stated Weil. “Adding talent of this caliber to this work really helped give it shape. Fitzgerald’s deeply evocative words helped us to convey the idea of the dream, while Gabriel read the part as though he himself was in a dream state, giving the piece an entirely new life. It was a great experience and a wonderful example of the collaborative and additive nature of the creative process in filmmaking.”

Watch Shapeshifter, a dream narrated by Gabriel Byrne:

Artwork from the ad

Here is an interview with Alex Weil at Motionographer:

As the overall director of the film, my biggest challenge was to take Diana’s designs, which I loved to look at, and turn them into something that felt like a story. The first place we went to was of course, music. We did a number of needle drops and found a few that we really liked, but somehow none of them distinguished the piece to my satisfaction.

At that point I realized that I had three things that I could put together to hopefully create some magic – Wonderfully, but ambiguous visuals, a prose poem written by my friend Fitzgerald Scott, and an original piece of music created by Peter Lauridsen from Stimmung. I specifically asked that the piece not be scored to music but instead that it have a life and storyline of its own. Then lightning struck. We landed Gabriel Byrne to perform the voice over. His dream-like reading really put it over the top for me. I am not sure that I can tell you what ShapeShifter actually is but I do hope you are able to enjoy it.

You can watch the video in HD at the Charlex (also known as CHRLX) website. A “making of” video is available too, as are storyboards and other background information for this amazing project.

Enjoy!

A beautiful image from the Shapeshifter “dream”

7 Comments

  1. I really love to hear his voice in this dreamworld.
    A world with creative dreams and Gabriel in it.
    A very good combination, if you ask me.

  2. Cythandra

    I have to check this out. His voice is always amazing.

  3. It’s on YouTube, his voice is so dreamy

  4. Cythandra

    Oh my! That was so, so… sensual. That was simply beautiful. To look at and to listen to. Simply Brilliant!

  5. I think it is very important for an actor to have a sensitive voice. It is possible to express so much through your voice if you have the talent for it. I think good actors always work much with how they use their voices. A rich voice can be like a form of music, I think.

  6. Wow. It would be nice to get an audio copy of just his narration.

  7. In my opinion, the work was perfect, both with respect to graphic design as the narration. A futuristic dream with Gabriel Byrne in it? It’s better than you might imagine, is not it?
    The voice is simply perfect!

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