Take That — Sweet July
Official music video · Hand-crafted comic animation meets AI · AI Artist / After Effects Artist
For Sweet July, Vaughan Arnell — the director behind Robbie Williams' Rock DJ, George Michael's Fastlove, the Spice Girls' Say You'll Be There and Take That's own Back for Good — reunited with the band three decades on. His idea: turn Take That into a rock 'n' roll power trio, then let the performance slip off the film stage and into the pages of a comic book, in the spirit of Take On Me and Sledgehammer.
London studio Rohtau led post-production, VFX and AI under creative director Jordi Bares. The animation was handed to three artists working remotely across Europe — Sébastien Daniel in Toulouse, Linus Konetschnig in Zurich and Zed Zara in Budapest — each shaping a different visual language over one intense month.
London studio Rohtau led post-production, VFX and AI under creative director Jordi Bares. The animation was handed to three artists working remotely across Europe — Sébastien Daniel in Toulouse, Linus Konetschnig in Zurich and Zed Zara in Budapest — each shaping a different visual language over one intense month.
client: Take That · director: Vaughan Arnell · production: Merman · post / VFX / AI: Rohtau · 2026
Director: Vaughan Arnell
Production Company: Merman
Executive Producer / Partner: Siobhan Murphy
Producer: Zoe Gunn
DP: Will Bex
Art Director: Fingal Green
Editor: Kit Wells
Post Production / VFX / AI: Rohtau
VFX Creative Director / VFX Supervisor: Jordi Bares
Executive Post Producer: Josh King
Post Producer: Zoe Anne Rinaldi
AI Artist: Linus Konetschnig
AI Artist / After Effects Artist / Lead Editor: Sébastien Daniel
AI Artist / After Effects Artist: Zed Zara
Colour: Black Kite Studios
Colourist: George Kyriacou
Director: Vaughan Arnell
Production Company: Merman
Executive Producer / Partner: Siobhan Murphy
Producer: Zoe Gunn
DP: Will Bex
Art Director: Fingal Green
Editor: Kit Wells
Post Production / VFX / AI: Rohtau
VFX Creative Director / VFX Supervisor: Jordi Bares
Executive Post Producer: Josh King
Post Producer: Zoe Anne Rinaldi
AI Artist: Linus Konetschnig
AI Artist / After Effects Artist / Lead Editor: Sébastien Daniel
AI Artist / After Effects Artist: Zed Zara
Colour: Black Kite Studios
Colourist: George Kyriacou
Look development
The work began with one to two weeks of pure look development, then moved into motion tests, daily check-ins with Rohtau and constant dialogue with Vaughan, whose direction kept evolving the film's path. The central challenge was keeping three instantly recognisable faces true to themselves inside bold graphic styles. Stills were developed across several image models and refined in Photoshop — noir ink, halftone posters, graphic-novel pencil, riso print and chromatic VHS. A selection of the explorations:
The work began with one to two weeks of pure look development, then moved into motion tests, daily check-ins with Rohtau and constant dialogue with Vaughan, whose direction kept evolving the film's path. The central challenge was keeping three instantly recognisable faces true to themselves inside bold graphic styles. Stills were developed across several image models and refined in Photoshop — noir ink, halftone posters, graphic-novel pencil, riso print and chromatic VHS. A selection of the explorations:
From plate to page
Some shots started from a finished still that was then brought to life; in others the motion came first, and the band was rotoscoped and separated from the background so each layer could be animated on its own, with After Effects compositing adding depth while keeping every performance readable. Sébastien's rough cuts kept every section in step with the edit.
Zed's sections carry the film's textured, gritty comic-book register: halftone grain, cross-hatched ink, splatter and aged paper. The original plan let colour gradually bleed into the drawings; the final film stays largely monochrome until its tactile, collage-driven finale. Below, the live-action plates turning into the finished frames:
Some shots started from a finished still that was then brought to life; in others the motion came first, and the band was rotoscoped and separated from the background so each layer could be animated on its own, with After Effects compositing adding depth while keeping every performance readable. Sébastien's rough cuts kept every section in step with the edit.
Zed's sections carry the film's textured, gritty comic-book register: halftone grain, cross-hatched ink, splatter and aged paper. The original plan let colour gradually bleed into the drawings; the final film stays largely monochrome until its tactile, collage-driven finale. Below, the live-action plates turning into the finished frames:
Huge thanks to Vaughan, Jordi and the whole Rohtau team for the trust and the room to explore — and to Linus and Sébastien for being the dream team.
Featured on shots, LBB Online and Promonews (Pick of the Day).
Featured on shots, LBB Online and Promonews (Pick of the Day).