Deserted Eyes

Deserted Eyes is a song, animated music video and WebGL project by the Greek multi-instrumentalist Oh. (Olivia Hadjiioannou).

The song takes the listener beyond the vicissitudes of relationship and love - beyond the criteria of reciprocity and togetherness.

It casts a light on the individual within the relationship rather then the relationship itself. Expressing how one's state of mind — if left unchecked and allowed to settle too long in dark and despondent moods —eventually wears away at the soul of the other — casting an immutable spell unwittingly upon the one you love.

The video was filmed during the late summer of 2017 in Greece where a tragic oil spill occurred causing an ecological disaster in the waters of the Saronikos and irreparable damage to the interpersonal relationships of the coastal community.

During post-production, we could not ignore the correlation that tragic event had to the song and so incorporated the visuals into the final clips.

The music video was created with traditional hand-drawn, 2D, 3D and motion graphics. The project also includes an innovative online WebGL experience embedding YouTube video, music players and animated elements to create a 3D web experiences using three,js.

https://olitunes.com/worlds/webgl2/chapters/desertedwebgl.html

  • Olivia Hadjiioannou
    Key Cast
  • Tima Vlasto
    Post-Production
  • Olivia Hadjiioannou
    Producer
  • Olivia Hadjiioannou
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Music Video, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Music Video, WebGL
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 19, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 13th Athens Animfest
    Athens
    Greece
    March 18, 2018
    Official Selection
  • The Experimental Film, Dance and Music Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    March 14, 2019
    Official Selection
  • London Greek Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 7, 2018
    Winner
  • Five Continents International Film Festival.
    Puerto La Cruz
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    May 31, 2018
    Winner
Director Biography - Olivia Hadjiioannou

Olivia Hadjiioannou is a Greek multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who goes by the moniker Oh. She made her debut in 2013 with a 24-minute debut EP, “Sleeping World”. “Trials”—a song about the struggles of her ‘lost generation’ won an international music video award in 2013. The song was selected by the Greek press as one of the top-50 events to mark Greece during the economic crisis.

“Sleeping World’ also caused a stir in the international music press. Reviewers compared her vocal talents to stars like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Happy Rhodes, Céline Dion, Melissa Auf der Maur, Sharon Den Adel and Anneke Van Giesbergen.

In 2015, she followed up with a 34-minute instrumental progressive metal concept album “Synemotion” as a Double Limited-Edition vinyl release.

Between 2016 to 2018 Oh. released four successful single-ballads about love (“Love Will Heal”, “Love of Avalanches”, “I’m In Love” and “Deserted Eyes”). The music video for “Love of Avalanches” was one of the first handmade 360 virtual reality (VR) videos on YouTube. The innovative workflow to produce the video was showcased at NAB in 2016 by Mettle. A 3D WebGL interactive experience for the launch of the single “I’m in Love” was nominated on Awwwards.com in 2017.

The last of the single ballad series, “Deserted Eyes” was released on January 19, 2018 with an animated music video and innovative WebGL experience. The song is was a semi-finalist in the 2017 International Songwriters Competition (ISC) and the music video was the winner of the Cosmocinema Awards for Best Music Video Award in the London Greek Film Festival, an official selection in the 13th Athens Animfest 2018, and winner for Best Video Art in the Five Continents International Film Festival.

Her new EP “Metallia” was released on July 28, 2018 as a luxuriously designed digipack-CD with a 16-page booklet. The EP includes 6 new tracks with a total duration of just over 25 minutes. Since it launched it has received over 32 reviews from 13 countries worldwide, is in the top 10 prog EPs on Progarchives and listed as one of the best albums of the year for 2018 on Metal Nation Radio.

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Director Statement


Production Note
“Deserted Eyes” was filmed at the seashore in Glyfada a southern suburb of Athens, Greece in the late summer of 2017. During the filming, a ttragic oil spill occurred precipitated by the negligence of the Greek government – an ecological disaster in the waters of the Saronikos. On the last day of filming the beach was covered in oil, dead birds covered in tar and the stench of petrol in the air.

The song “Deserted Eyes” is about how a person’s dark, depressed and toxic states of mind can poison our interpersonal relationships and eventually dim the light of the soul in the other’s eyes, stealing their aspirations, hopes and finally the connection to their own soul and sense of self. The oil spill starkly depicted — with the blackening of the earth, toxic fumes, depressed state all present experienced, the death of wildlife — the irreparable damage to the interpersonal relationships shared everyday by all the beach-goers and coastal community. During post-production, we could not ignore the correlation that tragic event had to the song and so incorporated the visuals into the final clips.