Vapagram: A E S T H E T I C Instagram Posts + Music Video
Yolande St.Ville
Project Details
ABOUT PROJECT
A moving Image Film project for my best friend's birthday, combining his favourite aesthetic and music - Vaporwave and 80's Japanese City Pop.
TIMEFRAME
2 weeks: planning
Editing, prototyping, design: 3 days
DELIVERABLES
- Social Media posts ( x 3)
- Vapagram app high-fidelity prototype
- Music Video
Final Designs
Design Process
During the planning phase of the project, I researched vaporwave, the aesthetic and looked for relevant animated gifs to that would be used for the music video. My best friends likes 80s and 90s anime, basketball, Sci-Fi and technology, so I looked for imaged that would be both familiar and personal and invoke a sense of nostalgia.
I was particularly inspired by the following two gifs. I wanted to take my best friend on a journey from modern day to the 1980s. One of the ways I intended to do that was to create the illusion for viewing a VHS that had been put into a player, giving the feeling of a movie within a movie, (a nod to one of his favorite movies Inception (2010)). The gifs at the beginning and ending of the video would set the structure for the rest of the music video.
SOUNDTRACK
With every film I create, I start with the soundtrack and translate the concepts I see in my mind into a story. To make the music video more personal, I wanted to incorporate two songs from one of my partner's favourite vaporwave albums - Deep Fantasy by S U R F I N G.
In total I used three songs, Lifetime and Sky High by S U R F I N G, to set the 80's tone for the intro and outro and Change Your Heart [Giri Giri Battle Remix] by JADOES, one of my favorite City Pop songs, to set the fun, driving, funky upbeat tone and pace of the video.
VAPAGRAM APP
POST 1 - It's an 80s Vaporwave summer in the spring of 2023
My intention of the first post was to set the mood and tone. I added a layer blur and drop shadow to the text to reduce the fidelity, and replicate the heavy subtitle border shadows of the period.
I also used off-white F6F8FD from the white highlight of the gif to keep with the dynamic range.
POST 2 - Entering the world of the vaporwave with VW-DOS 95.
Using Figma community components, I created a modal for the vaporwave VS-DOS 95 operating system, incorporating the pastel pink and blue gradients that are often used.
I changed the aspect ratio of the frame to fit an Instagram post and overlaid the operating system UI elements onto the gif to create the illusion of a trippy vaporwave wallpaper.
On my version of the early Windows OS, I usually had the garbage can in the bottom right of the screen, adding a personal touch.
POST 3 - A gif gift, within a gif...within a gift
For the final post, I added a gif overlay of the beginning of the music video to create the illusion of an invisible cut but immersive cut that would tie the transition between the posts and music video. Tongue in cheek play of giving a gift and transition into the music video.
Project review
It was a great experience to work on a project that was meaningful and personal. Like myself, my best friend has an exacting standard. I'm very familiar with his taste, so I was under immense pressure to do my best work and get it just right. I'm very happy with the final result, especially because I was able to create something that he loved in a completely new visual style whilst combining my favourite mediums into one.
✨ Designed and directed by Yolande St.Ville. May 2023.
