New Eels Video tells the story of an interplanetary friendship
The director, who worked for Great Ormond Street and BBC2, based the film on the lyrics of the song, which made her think of someone writing to a friend on another planet. In the video, Dora – who was inexplicably stranded on the moon with a snake – receives a letter from her friend persuading her to return home. Garrett says the story "felt pretty relevant to the past year".
Traditional stop-motion sequences are sandwiched along with animated paintings showing the letter flying to the moon, and Dora is swallowed up in the queue to come back home.
CR addressed the enduring love creatives have for stop motion in a recent piece that explored why we're all still so drawn to technology.
"There's something nice about stop-motion about choosing the materials and textures and being surprised how you create a scene," Garrett told CR. "You don't know exactly what you're going to get until you start, and there's a bit of spontaneity that I really like. Stop motion feels tactile and nostalgic. You can tell pretty weird stories, but they feel pretty graphic . "
Earth To Dora comes from the Eels album of the same name, which was released by E Works Records. eelstheband.com; isabel-garrett.co.uk
Credits:
Directed by Isabel Garrett
Production company: Prettybird UK
DOP: Daniel Morgan
Animation: David McShane
Paint on glass: Renee Zhan and David McShane
Model makers: Alice Simonato, Oliver Arnell Argles, Thomas Garnon, Richard Malone, Claire Smithson, Agatha Roudaut and Bluey Byrne
Doll maker: Lisa Ott