#polygonn

Polygonn - The Bishops

Keep Drawing 

Reflection 2/19/26

I chose to write initially about the Disclosure video, but after I started, I realized that although there isn’t a traditional narrative in this piece per se—this is a filmed performance by Disclosure and their featured guest Mary J. Blige performing “F For You” live on a sound stage—a lot of the choices in this week’s Viewing List have similar qualities. The Disclosure clip stands apart from a couple of the other non-narrative clips that caught my eye (“Polygonn,” and “Keep Drawing”) in that the music—that is, the actual sound created by the the band and Mary J.—became a living presence personified by the rotoscoped animations that were added to the footage of the performers. 

Both “Keep Drawing” and “Polygonn” aren’t traditional narrative pieces either, but are able to tell their stories through a combination of words and music (“Polygonn”) and familiar drawn characters (“Keep Drawing.”) The visual elements allow “Polygonn” to be a more interesting piece than a simple pop/rock song. I know the addition of the rotoscoping technique made me think that maybe there was more to this song, and this band, than meets the eye, considering that the visuals were so simple and compelling. However, after listening to the song the first time, I realized I didn’t really remember much about it, other than it seemed like a fairly generic (though tastefully done) mid-tempo 90s/2000s indie rock songs, but I do recall the video and the look of the images. The drawn representations of motions made by the players reminded me of the cloud of dust that followed Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoons.  

“Keep Drawing” came across like a love letter to the act of drawing itself, encompassing the joy of doing the work, that is experienced by all artists, and the universal struggle to keep doing it when things get difficult (i.e. the many pencils and ink pens tossed away in frustration). Overall, it came across as a reminder to artists why they keep working, which seemed at heart, simply for the love of the act itself. 

Polygonn - The Bishops from Ben Aston on Vimeo.

Check out how we made this! — BEHIND THE SCENES - vimeo.com/80669563

'Polygonn' is the first single off the Bishops new album 'All Lost Time'. To stream and purchase the album check them out at - thebishops.bandcamp.com/album/all-lost-time. For more from the Bishops check out their website - thebishopsband.com/

The video is a hand drawn rotoscope animation composed of over 2,500 individual illustrations. Animator Nick Black spent over 6 months tracing each frame from the original live action footage onto paper in a technique called “rotoscoping” - with 12 drawings representing a second of footage. We then photographed these drawings and let them run in order to create the video you see here.

All Lost Time - @TheBishopsUK

I looove everything in the album. All 12 of them. But Polygonn & All Points In-Between's probably my favorite. Oh no wait, it's Looper. Just go and listen. Best if you have your headphones on, drum parts did wonders to me. Really liked the basslines on Stop/Start.

The Bishops is made-up of twins Mike [Vocals / Guitar] & Pete Bishop [Vocals / Bass]& Scotsman Chris McConville [Drums] The three were later on joined by another Bishop, Alex in 2009. They've released quite a handful of tracks, EPs and albums. [Go grab them here.] I've only just listened to this album but I am pretty sure their previous releases are good as well.