Earlier this fall, heavy metal band Iron Maiden released the album Senjutsu, the band's first album release in six years.
For one of the songs, Stratego, an animated music video was released in a Japanese environment, which was directed and illustrated by Swedish Gustaf Holtenäs.
The animator and illustrator Minna Floss was commissioned as the music video's 2D animator.
- These are the pictures that Iron Maiden uses, with Eddie and the zombie characters, I have always liked very much.
So I was overjoyed that you could do something, partly for their music but also their style, says Minna Floss.
"We just drove on"
Once the team behind the music video started the work, they only had six weeks to complete it.
- Everything happened very quickly, which made it both easier and more difficult.
We did not hang on to certain details, we just drove on.
Part of a great whole
As a 2D animator, Minna Floss redrawn the director's characters into straight lines and peeled off the details, to make them easier to move.
- I think it was very fun to work on a project where you collaborate with so many other people.
It's very cool that I make a small 2D animation that is only black and white and with lines.
Then when it comes back, a lot of others have put things on stage.
- It feels fantastic that you do a fairly small part yourself, but are part of another large whole.