MasterClass: Sheila E.
MasterClass: Sheila E.
Rhythm and repetition fit for a queen
They call her the Queen of Percussion. Sheila E. is a force of nature and a true inspiration for all musicians. She comes from a legendary family of musicians—the Escondido family. She’s played with Prince, Marvin Gaye, and Diana Ross and has had a successful solo career with hits like A Love Bizarre. So when MasterClass told us that the Queen was going to teach a class, we had to get involved.
This was MasterClass’ first class on drumming and it was important to reflect that in the graphics and titles. Moreover, she is self-taught—no music notation, no volume bars. MasterClass needed a visual language that was able to flex and be used in titles or help students play along, all in a style that reflected Sheila’s personal voice and the MasterClass brand.
In our research, we watched an enormous amount of footage of Sheila E. playing. Many times, we would freeze-frame or repeat and play to study her. This became a big motivator when approaching the title animation. Instead of approaching animation with slick and quick movements, we wanted to reflect the audience POV and used elements of repetition and stop-motion.
As a woman of color, Sheila E.’s unique journey to the top is inspirational. Her class is as much as about finding your passion and building confidence as it is about drumming. We are proud to be part of its making.
Credits:
Animation: Jessica Dorricott and Morgan Pelligrino
Illustration: Ashley Fundora
Co-Art Direction: Lauren Fundora and Kim West
Produced at MasterClass