Initially the agency approached us with an initial brief and a script. We began to refine the script in collaboration with the  agency and started to define the production plan. Storyboarding, animatics, look and concept development gave us valuable tools to visualise our ideas and kept everyone on the same page from the start. During planning, we provided artistic and technical insights on how different story points could be depicted.

We continued laying out each shot while the animatic acted as a guide for 3D layouts and rhythm of the edit. Although the look we were after had a frontal and hand animated appearance, we used 3D graphics and animation extensively. Key benefit being that we could fly through the scenes in fluid motion. Various assets and environments were simple 3D models, either rendered with cell shading techniques or as AOVs to be used later in comp.

To achieve the seamless flow from shot to shot, we planned the animation with a single “master” camera, which eventually was split into each shot.

The main character was hand animated in 2D and composited into 3D space. Sometimes the character’s elements were split in depth to create more dimensionality. Overall the emphasis of the team’s efforts was in comp, where we layered numerous animated textures and particle effects.

Finally a music score was composed, which elevated the animation to its full potential. The end result was praised for how clearly the brand and the animation worked together.