A Waking Life Take on "Ain't No Grave"

​I love the rotoscope. When I first saw Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, the fluid movements of the animated characters were simultaneously disquieting yet thrilling. I was even a sucker for a-ha's "Take On Me" video, and I will watch anything Richard Linklater wants to animate. And like Linklater's Waking Life, that rotoscoped movie where different animators drew over each frame, The Johnny Cash Project asks for the collaboration of many to draw highly stylized lines over the live action images. And, so far, it's pretty awesome. ​

Even if it's not real rotoscoping, the effects are always these images caught between cartoon and live action, just vibrating with energy, trembling to life. The projects asks for participants to draw over a single frame to create a music video for Cash's "Ain't No Grave." Their drawing tool is easy to use, so anyone can use it and scribble out their one-of-a-kind testament to the Man in Black. And since we still revere our musical epic heroes, this art collective is a pretty incredible way to honor the lore of the larger than life.