Technique
CLIENT
director
Animation Studio
YEAR
We were approached by lovely Mike Ibeji, whom we have worked with before. He asked us to work on all the graphic/VFX and animated elements for a new documentary with BlinkFilms UK. We immediately jumped on the project as we knew from previous experience that this was going to be a good one. The brief was clear from the beginning. Delivery of graphics, animation and VFX tied to a historical, in-depth live-action documentary where animated visuals would aid timelines, geographical points, historical findings and cultural changes over time. An abundance of playtime with style, textures, movement and colours to fit the right mood and narrative of the documentary. Originally, we were commissioned to do a US version for NOVA with a fairly tight deadline, but during production, deadlines and scope of work changed to also include French and UK versions with completely new graphics. So instead of doing 1 look, we got to produce 2 different styles of graphics for the same film.
Tests of animation and graphics
Seeing as the documentary was still in production while we did post graphics, part of the challenge was receiving new rushes and changes in the different assets throughout and still meeting the deadline. Style and texture had to be just right to accompany and highlight the culture of the Easter Islands and took a lot of testing before finding the perfect solution. Deadlines changed and we were asked to add elements and complexity. We decided to divide and conquer to hit the deadlines and created a changeable template for production in graphics to speed up creation while adding personality and detail to each one of the assets. On top of that, we were then asked to create a whole new batch of graphics, based on the originals, but in a very different style for international distribution. This deadline was even tighter and with more 3D elements involved as well as more complex camera movement. Because of incredible communication with BlinkFilms and Mike and a very professionally organised pipeline from BlinkFilms, we managed to meet every criteria throughout.
Final versions of graphics
We mainly used After Effects and Illustrator to produce the base maps and used plugins like Overlord to transfer the vector files seamlessly to AE.
We worked with a templatable workflow so it was easy to change the inside without modifying the look. On a main comp we add the camera movement. We used 3D cameras so we had that depth that makes the graphics much more dynamic and interesting with some parallax to reinforce that idea on the textures.
We created that vintage look by applying different textures and we created some Polynesian style textures to go with the maps. That approach changed radically on the French version as we were requested to go for a more tech vibe.
For the assets that involved a more explanatory movement of the Moai statues, we decided to go with a 3D mix technique bringing a 3D model to the AE comp to have the flexibility of the volume and being more realistic but with a stylised look.
Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Blender, Overlord
Mike and BlinkFilms were very happy with the results and so were we. It turned into a beautiful and coherent documentary and it was a huge pleasure working with BlinkFilms and Mike. One of the reasons why it became such a beautiful production was the seamless and easygoing communication throughout the process.
Animation Director: Alixe Lobato
Producer: Josephine Amalie von Bülow
Animators: Hanna Vernon, Alixe Lobato
