A few months ago and after a 16 years old long hiatus, the legendary hip-hop duo Clipse composed of “Pusha T” and “Malice” released a new album, produced by none other than Pharell Williams.
(Including featurings of other big guns like Kendrick Lamar, Nas, John Legend, Tyler The Creator, to name a few)
The album launch came with a music video for their single “Chains & Whips”.
Directed by Gabriel Moses, it quickly made a buzz, notably because of its intriguing visual effects where people appear as distorted and stretched.
What’s interesting about it is that more than just bringing a distinctive esthetic to the video, it also serves the song’s intent and purpose.
Let’s watch it first:
Distorting space and time
You might think “how on earth did they pull this off” ?
Well, at the core of the process lies a technique called Slit-scan.
It’s quite a complex shooting technique invented in the sixties, rooted in photography and later adapted for the cinema, notably and for the first time in the “stargate sequence” from the iconic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
If you are curious to learn and understand all about it, I encourage you to watch this nerdy video.
Since the complexity of the technique itself isn’t the main concern here, let’s keep things simple and just focus on the concept : Slit-scanning works by capturing very thin slices of a scene at different moments in time, then combining them to form a single image.
This was originally done by placing a black mask with a very narrow vertical slit in front of the camera lens, hence the name.
The resulting image isn’t captured all at once, but built progressively from stacked time slices, where time then becomes visible: different parts of the frame belong to different moments, stretching movement and distorting space
Here is a gif that I hope will help you understand better how it works :
Note that nowadays we have plugins that can help freeing ourselves from complex mechanical engineering setups.
Also, you can have countless variations using vertical, horizontal or even circular strips, choosing what moves and what stays still, etc, and you can get really creative results !
But let’s get back to the video.
A 5-star treatment
In the video, Gabriel Moses used this technique at its best !
While few details have been shared about the process, it appears to combine multiple slit-scan approaches with slow-motion footage and subtle post-production, resulting in a distinctive look where bodies appear stretched and elongated, but in a way that remains clean and visually readable.
Also, on top of the effect, some footage has been composited in post production, mainly the mouths of the rappers voicing the lyrics, somehow feeling like a statue speaking and really catching the eye and attention.
Instead of being just funnily weird and chaotic like the effect can be, the visuals remain carefully restrained and all the more powerful, acting as a real statement related to the song.
That’s why I chose this video, because it stands as an example of thoughtful art direction.
Indeed, the lyrics are rather dark and profound and the visuals embody them well, the slit-scan being the cherry on top.
I won’t dive into an in-depth analysis, but to sum them up in a nutshell, they depict the struggles of black people having to navigate in a system that offers two conflicting paths: either suffer from it it, or succeed by adopting the very mechanisms that perpetuate inequality.
The chorus itself holds this powerful line: “Beat the system with chains and whips”
Here, the visual treatment doesn’t decorate the song, it reinforces its meaning, using the effect sparingly and with a clear intent, making it a deliberate visual stance.
Let’s not forget the first scene, where a baby girl slowly stretches as she starts to walk, metaphorically illustrating the tensions she will have to face as she goes on with her life.
While one might not have the opportunity to create such a strong bond between lyrics and visuals on every song, it’s still very appreciable to witness and enjoy such dedication !
(And creatives always find a way, I guess headbanging aliens worked for “I’m Blue”)
Another one
This of course isn’t the first music video which uses Slit-scanning, but from what I have seen I think it’s probably the one that uses it in the best way.
Too often, the effect is reduced to quirky, distorted imagery that feels gratuitous or gimmicky, sometimes even feeling like used as a substitute for a stronger visual idea.
To me there is also another compelling example with this track from Flume :
Most of the video establishes an eerie and suspended atmosphere, with a man floating in the air while standing still, evolving into an emptied Sydney Opera House (what a beautiful architecture).
Then, at 3:10, when the drop hits, it shifts into a slit-scanned dance of the man finally having reached the stage of an empty atrium.
This moment resolves all the tension that has been built up both visually and musically.
The effect feels cohesive with the story and its art direction strangeness, with a shooting and editing perfectly fitting with the track that must have taken lots of work. So, thumbs up !
Lastly, as much as I like purposeful art direction, it’s always nice to simply have fun.
So if you are an After Effects user, there is this 20 bucks plugin allowing to recreate the effect without much hassle, so if you have the time, Slit-scan yourself !
Credits
Artists :
Clipse → https://www.instagram.com/clipse/
Images :
Video by https://www.instagram.com/gabrielomoses
Slit-scan street gif by https://x.com/kitasenjudesign
Circular slit-scan gif by Mikhail Perkomenkho
Bamboo hands slit-scan by François Vogel
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