The Rock Animation (Harry Chapin)

The Rock by Harry Chapin
Animated by Sydney Collings (@symphony_sonata on Instagram)
High School Senior Capstone Project 2021
I bled for this video.
Link to my speech:
• Sydney Collings' H.S. ...

[@CMY_._]

This legit felt like i watched a movie, it was so unbelievably good like what

[@trexjesus721]

you don’t understand how obsessed with this i am.

[@pnarco]

Say what you'd like about the late Harry Chapin. Maybe he wasn't as successful a singer-songwriter as he had hoped to have been. Maybe he wasn't as 'good' as Dylan, say. But if Harry had ONLY done 'The Rock'. And 'The Rock' was the ONLY song Harry had ever done... It would have been ENOUGH. Thank you Harry. You WERE this guy. Thank you for being that bright light in a dark, dark valley. Let it shine.

[@aldecursoe7173]

I personally think every band should hear Six String Orchestra...

[@jimcat68]

I'm with you there.

[@robertprattico8115]

Amen!

[@kyltredragmire4939]

This animation draws out the powerful emotions of Harry Chapin's singing just wonderfully.

[@christophercollings5984]

What a great way to tell that story. I think Harry would be proud to see your vision of his song!

[@tubularfrog]

Hell yeah

[@smashley5687]

I’m taking a natural disaster class and my teacher played this song for us this week. I loved it and I’m glad I decided to look it up and found your amazing animatic!

[@davidschartung6389]

My dad used to play this song on long car rides. He's gone now, but this song still pops into my head sometimes. I'm very glad I found this on KZbin. I haven't actually heard it in almost 10 years now

[@heatherline_]

I watch it so many times. It's so sad, I've watch a lot of series and movies and this kind of scene 2:52 always got me in tears, there's emotion in their eyes

[@mich2254]

My English teacher taught me about this type of poem and I remember this song

[@jimcat68]

You had a very good teacher. Kudos to them.

[@Krumpus]

I use this song in my classroom to teach theme, etc., and I've recently switched to playing/showing your video. Every time I play it, my students are engrossed and dazzled by your art. Your video captures the song so perfectly. You bled for your capstone project, and it is appreciated--you did not bleed in vain.

[@j.kl.8675]

Very very very well made, damn thats impressive! You might want to share this on the harry chapin facebook group, im sure theyd love it also

[@robertthompson1030]

You put in this film exactly what I saw as a kid hearing this for the first time so long long ago. Amazing work, you have a talent that I hope you pursue in the future! A+++

[@SkywiseStormwolf]

my high school Spanish teacher taught us this song many years ago on one of our "free days"- I've loved it ever since.

[@reneethomas898]

I’m gonna be thinking abt this forever

[@joshuacooney8346]

This is how I always imagined it being visually. Good job

[@sfmhero0127]

I love this song. It blew my mind seeing somebody actually do an animatic on it. Amazing work!

[@zachariahjonahmaldonado5897]

I've joked about how this song needs an anime adaption or least an anamatic, never thinking someone would actually do it. Thank you for doing God's work.

[@kevinloomer1145]

I love this! And I miss Harry.

[@stevedavies4320]

Superb animation of a superb song by a superb songwriter who left us too soon...

[@yourteamsucks2136]

Huge Chapin fan here. Amazing work on this. Maybe you can do another. I'm sure Flowers Are Red, Taxi, Cats in the Cradle, W.O.L.D. and A Better Place to Be would be amazing to do. The red of the blood under the rock at the end is so understated and yet so visceral.

[@toddjbradshaw]

Wonderful work. I always imagined how this song played out visually in my mind's eye growing up. It always haunted me for the realistic undertones we see in life or what I would come to discover. And now to watch this, it just gives me chills. I am very proud of you and I hope you are too. A timeless song, and an appropriate one for the times we live in. Thank you.

[@JasonColannino]

Harry has many Story songs that could be animated. This is a great start

[@NeffNotSponsored]

Happy to see people still remember Harry

[@sophiaetka22]

This is AMAZING. Harry Chapin would be proud.

[@BigBlueBox313]

I always wanted to see some Chapin songs animate, and this was always one Imwould think of first. Awesome job I'm really glad somone did it.

[@plmtoz9350]

I love this song, and I’m super glad this was made!

[@ashanchutin6569]

EXCUSE ME THIS IS A M A Z I N G WTF

[@localpinklover]

Honestly he should’ve left the town and dipped when the rock fell that’s on them for not listening

[@superha]

I could watch this over and over. Brilliant in so many ways!

[@AngryDadGaming]

Love this animation style! This song was always one of my favorites as well.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

Even more chilling with COVID on, especially given the tendency people have to say "it can't happen here." Sad thing is, the more you say that, the more insistent reality seems to become that it can. Have you thought about fleshing this out with color and more detail and sending it to Harry's brother Tom? He still sings, children's songs, but he does. Though I dunno, there's a certain starkness about it that goes with the song. I love the shot of the boy's notebook also. You can see his desperation.

[@ailuroant5697]

your animation is absolutely beautiful! i especially loved the part with the chalkboard where the rock left chalk smudges. and the ripping of just "the rock" off of the poster so it can fly and be like a title. also haven't heard this song before, and it's amazing!

[@NyanMango]

This is amazing! I hope you aced that project two times over.

[@justsomerandomguy8210]

Edmund Fitzgerald vibes, I love it

[@jerseygracepatterson]

How incredible!!!! You must have worked so hard this is great!

[@LilyBrady02]

This is amazing visual storytelling!!

[@sighthoundstars]

WELL DONE!!! THIS IS SO SICK!!!

[@utilitymaxxing]

Damn that's good on so many levels.

[@conciouscleo1880]

At a certain point you gotta root for the rock.

[@dylananderson6358]

This is amazing, absolutely brilliant, every beat and detail put into this is magnificent. You have done something truly incredible by creating this.

[@Jumpingmrsunshine]

Very good job on this!

[@miketocci]

This is absolutely awesome. I also used Harry Chapin's 1975 song, "The Rock" as part of a high school project (way back in the 90s). If I had Hollywood money I would pay to get a fully animated, finished version. Really well done!

[@zachhelms531]

Gahhhhh! I love this so much! This is an amazing work!

[@caty6911]

THIS IS SO GOOD OMGGGG THIS IS AMAZJNGGGH

[@kneegloc]

This is so excellent! I had chills throughout. Thank you.

[@tumbi7]

Very cool animatic. I've always wanted to animate this song. Great job with the scene transitions!

[@ianman15]

The third single release from the underappreciated Portrait Gallery album. Another great story song by Chapin.

[@laurendavis377]

this is incredible!!!!!!

[@chiara6939]

This is great!!

[@unicornactual3432]

One of my favourite songs just became one of my favourite music videos, what a nice day this turned out to be.

[@paulhall170]

Congratulations on perfectly capturing this amazing Harry Chapin song, well done and thank you. I once preached on the urgency of the times in which we live, and I opened the sermon with a full quotation of this arresting song. To say that I had everyone's attention would be an understatement!!

[@landongraybill6716]

This is fantastic! Really enjoyed this, and I think Harry's talents as a storyteller really lend to his songs getting turned into something visual.

[@erinboes9139]

Holy crap. This is awesome! I literally just texted it to all my family members!

[@ThrivingBodyFit]

You deserve more love than you've received so far for this animation. It's brilliant

[@sarahelkassas2374]

A guy who was obsessed with a rocket kind of handsome

[@AJRabies]

Awesome animation for that song! Thank you soooo much for doing that. That song has always moved me.... inch by inch... I even played it on the radio a few times in the mid-90's when I was a dj in Indiana. Thanks again. P.S. Would LOOOOOVE to see your take on Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult!

[@esfomeada_1015]

wow you improved so much, here the lineart is very scratchy but your recent videos even have color now!

[@mikeknife4391]

Speechless

[@breadoflifechurch5293]

Listening to this into work today. "I wonder if there's a video?". Found this, and such a perfect match! Thanks for honoring this Man's Song. It really brings the imagination to life!

[@davidzimmermann8642]

my son had me sing this song over and over and over until he fell asleep

[@brianjezuit4085]

This iZ really amazing 🤩 itZ exactly aZ I envisioned it aZ a six year old when my Mom and Dad (both gone now) introduced me to Harry Chapin and this song.

[@rustedearth]

That was awesome. You should make one for Chapins 10000 pounds of bananas!

[@glennlyons972]

Beautiful. An achingly poignant portrayal of our time.

[@jimcat68]

This song is a perfect metaphor for the environmental challenges facing us today and the reaction of most people when confronted with it. Thank you for making this video. Also I am a huge fan of Harry Chapin from the days gone by, so that counts for a great deal. :)

[@girlbubble7991]

Oh this is AMAZING, I gre w up on my mums harry chapin CD's and I've always loved this song and this is such gorgeous animation!

[@theancientsam]

"The lasers are gonna aim at us" updated for 2023

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

It’s true.

[@theancientsam]

@@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959 nice name bro haha

[@ramtigerfalcon8387]

So friggn cool . My buddies parents let me listen to this as a young guy. Still remember the way some older music was more of a auditorial narrative , rather then a hype performance .

[@titusentertainment]

This is so good!!

[@ericvandermey3231]

Thank you for this ❤

[@chemprofmatt]

Totally brilliant!

[@chemprofmatt]

Having watched this again several days later, I'm really overwhelmed again by how good this is. The use of color in the video is incredibly powerful (no sarcasm at all in that).

[@Jebbens_]

Da Rock Nice Video

[@symphony_sonata]

Thank you! Nice pfp

[@pyeitme508]

NICE!

[@Noelle_Draws_Apparently]

IM SO LATE BUT THIS IS SO AMAZING OMG

[@aldecursoe7173]

I've always wondered if his involvement in trying to stop the rock actually had anything to do with it moving in the first place....in other words: precognition or self fulfilling prophecy?..🤔

[@aaronorr5586]

One could argue that the towns steadfast determination to ignore the peril of settling in the shadow of a gigantic town swallowing monolith was a pretty stupid decision in the first place...

[@ddcreation9217]

He died to save villagers but at the end nobody cares.🙁

[@user-xw8tx3bs2u]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna%27s_Butterball Great video, as many know, Harry Chapin took most of his songs from news articles or stories he heard. This is the real story behind “The Rock”.