by tompainter | Sep 13, 2022 |
Circle Health 3D ‘MTV’ Dance Animation for the TikTok Era Bring the energy! The lovely folks over at TMP worldwide came to us with an amazing brief, to create a bold and exciting promo video to help recruit experienced theatre staff into Circle Health’s hospitals. To get a rep Specifically, Circle wanted the campaign to stand out in a very ambitious way from the standard healthcare fare, which lacked the pizazz they were looking for. They wanted to build a reputation for high standards and a dynamic, modern culture. “Don’t try and make me cry. I’m sick of that John Lewis Christmas film tone that seems to have infected every film in this industry. I want this to be cool.” David Cooper Chief People Officer Circle Health Group The Strategy Bring the fun! The idea was to use movement, colour and character design to embody Circle’s brand values into a dance animation that would to energise and inspire potential recruits. Get your freak on! Al Wotton, head of creative at TMPW, had the genius idea of styling these videos like the classic 90’s MTV hiphop videos by Hype Williams – that was all he had to say, we were ON IT! The cinematographers party We knew to do this successfully, the elements we would need would be… > Some nice character design > Dance choreography with the energy of a TikTok / MTV dance video. > Great costumes > Cool lighting > Funky camera moves/angles and the obligatory VX1000 Mk1 fish eye lens of the era To integrate all of these elements together in a holistic manner, we’d...
by tompainter | May 6, 2016 |
The World in Your Hands Stop motion style animation Corporate communications For this project, the brief outlined the need for a short video that combined live action footage and CGI, to promote international banking services. He’s got the whole world To help get across the script in a visual and engaging way the video would star Steve, holding the Earth in his hands, to show just how small the world can feel thanks to modern banking. A mix of old and new We wanted to develop our CGI in a visually engaging style but there were a number of things to consider, we needed to ensure that the important message wasn’t lost in the visuals and that the style worked well. It was agreed that there should be a handmade charm to the campaign with a stop motion style, but our schedule was extremely tight. To combat this we used a combination of traditional techniques and modern CGI to achieve our desired look, this gave us the flexibility to incorporate the best of both techniques in a short space of time. Hand painted props To give our computer generated earth a quirky handmade look, we carefully studied how hand painted wooden props look. Inspired by this we incorporated these ideas in our design, striking a nice balance between clean, simple design and a quirky artisan look. Talk to the gaffer On set we used a real basketball painted blue as a placeholder for our CGI world, which meant all we would need to do in post production is swap the ball for our digital earth. Catching polygons! The last shot...
by tompainter | May 5, 2016 |
mCommerce Financial services explainer video CGI advertisement We were approached to help promote a new B2B business mobile app. As well as live action, our client wanted CGI to help explain the concept of the app. An engaging concept The film would show a typical banking customer in their home using the app, demonstrating its features and benefits in a real life situation. We would then need to combine footage of the phone with a high-end 3D animation of a fashion boutique coming out of the screen. We refined these ideas by developing the script into a highly detailed storyboard. Pre-visualisation The complex relationship between the live-action footage and the CGI elements meant that it was critical we locked down all the camera angles and movements before production began and so we created a pre-visualisation to help us with this. Pre-vis allowed us to tweak any aspects of the cinematography, such as lighting design and equipment choices, before any work began and gave us a great feel for how the final video would look. When it came to shooting the video we were able to use the pre-vis as a strict guide, which made the shoot day run very smoothly. Dummy modelmaking A large portion of the project would be done digitally in post production, and it was important to consider this on the day of the shoot. To help us visualise where our CGI elements would be, we created a cardboard version of the shop to act as a placeholder. This really helped us to perfectly frame and set the focus of the shots as if our digital...
by tompainter | Mar 14, 2016 |
Aqua Card 3D animated TV advertisement TV ad production required We were approached by London marketing agency WPN chameleon with an exciting opportunity to work with them on a new advertising campaign for Aqua Card. They wanted a 30 second animated TV commercial that would be broadcast nationwide during daytime television. Hooking them in! Our main goal for this project was to help Aqua stand out in a competitive marketplace and so it was decided that a great way to achieve that was to use a quirky and retro inspired video game theme. With a 3D cartoon style and engaging narrative we would be able to grab the audience’s attention and deliver the message in an entertaining way. Feeling the frustration We felt that a fast and jerky pace would give our work the classic computer game quality we wanted. It also suited the hook animation, giving it a style that is reminiscent of fairground crane machines. This really helped to drive home the selling points within the ad. Balancing the scales During production we found that one of the trickiest things was achieving a delicate balance between realism and cartoon. We needed to create a genuine depiction of the Aqua Card itself whilst using a more stylised cartoony approach on other elements of the animation. It was critical that everything sat together well in the same environment too so we had a lot of balancing to do. Murky waters It was essential that the background water had a natural look that represented the depth of the sea, which we found was quite hard to achieve. We went through...
by tompainter | Dec 3, 2015 |
IRIS Explainer Video Mixed media animated explainer A taxing issue IRIS, one of the UK’s leading providers for business accountancy software, came to us with a brief to create an explainer video that incorporated both live action and 2D animation. The video would need to clearly explain how to use their accountancy software in an engaging way. Planning the shoot It was more important than ever that we produced a highly detailed storyboard for this project, as not only would we be creating animated scenes but we would also be undertaking a live action shoot. This meant that not only did we need to know exactly what we would be producing digitally but also details about each shot we would be filming. Visually engaging One of our biggest problems in the planning process was how we would actually be able to visually explain each concept of the IRIS software. We found that metaphors, for example a tape measure representing a tailored service, really helped to make the concepts more understandable to the viewer. Animation meets live action We believe that animation and live action compliment each other perfectly. Our expertise in lighting came in extremely handy when it came to shooting the footage as it was crucial that the lighting on the day was exactly right, especially whilst filming IRIS’ product director, Steve Cox. Branded results The finished video professionally showcases the IRIS brand, using actual footage of the company enhanced by our 2D animation. We also incorporated the brand’s colours, which resulted in a clear, bespoke and engaging explainer video. Similar Projects Circle Health September 13, 2022 TMPW AAbot Augmented Reality December 3, 2019 Buhler Sorting Machine Explainer July 18, 2018 BBC Doodlebugs July 2,...
