Black: cross-medial project blending animation, electronic music, and live performance

Black is a cross-medial project—the first of its kind in Italy—conceived three years ago by director and video-designer Sara Taigher with her production company So What. It comprises a 2D animated short film, an electronic music album, and a live music act. The story, written by Lorenzo Bartoli (co-author of the comic series John Doe, who died in October 2014) and completed by Chiara Babuin and Daniele Di Biasio, follows Matteo, an electronic music producer who, during a long blackout in Rome, refuses to accept that he can no longer perform on his computer. The visual style results from the collaborative work of illustrators Yassmin Yaghmai and Caterina Ferrante, animators Ilaria Giacometti, Francesco Fort, and Alice Buscaldi, and illustrators Valerio Paolucci and Lorenzo Conti. The music is created by sound designer and producer Inti d’Ayala Valva and violinist Andrea di Cesare, who turned sketches for the soundtrack into full album tracks. The album features twelve tracks blending melodic dance and New York-style electro, with vocals from independent European and American rock and rap singers. The album and film will be released together in June 2017, followed by a live set synchronized with a puppet on stage. The project was presented at the first edition of Festival Moderno, produced by Club To Club and Radar Concerti, which explored the trend of electronic music moving toward pop dance with artists like Grimes and Blood Orange.