Character Designs
--- Initial sketches
--- Character development
--- Main Character Poses
Enivronments
--- Initial background sketches
--- yellow city sketch
--- revived city sketch
--- Mood board
--- Two pages from the storyboard
We were ecstatic when the folks at Leo Burnett came to us with this project. A short animation for Rabea Tea, in which the power of spring brings back life to a suffocating world. It had all the elements that motivated us to start learning animation in the first place: a story, characters, and a transforming city as the cherry on the cake. We had been studying and sharpening our character animation and storytelling skills for a while, and now was the time to put them in practice.
The deadline being very tight we dove in right away (not that we needed a tight deadline to motivate us). We gathered a small team almost overnight and off we went. We got to collaborate with very talented people who spared no efforts to give their best in the time we were given. Expectations were exceeded to say the least.
Multiple techniques were used throughout the spot. While most of the elements are illustrated in 2D, we modeled 3D elements here and there while using illustrated textures so they could blend in seamlessly.
We also camera mapped the cities. The different buildings and elements were put on separate layers which we spread in space using Cinema 4D’s Projection Man. This allowed us to make camera movements that create a feeling of depth in the illustration.
The characters were mostly animated in After Effects using Duduf’s IK. Some shots required frame-by-frame cell animation as the characters had to make more extreme rotations or had to be seen from different angles in the same shot.
We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed crafting it!
Credits:
Agency: LEO BURNETT
LEO BURNETT Jeddah
Managing Director: George Maktabi
Creative Director: Mohammed Bahmishan
Client Service Director: Thamer Farsi
Creative Director: Mohammed Bahmishan
Client Service Director: Thamer Farsi
LEO BURNETT Beirut
TV Producer: Marie-Rose Osta
Music composition and singing: Alaa Wardi
Directed by: Pamela Farhat and Michel Doumit
Enviroment art: Ahmad Beyrouthi
Wall backgrounds: Badr Douah
Character design: Rachel Mouawad
Bird Characters design: Ghadi Ghosn
Storyboard artist: Toufic Khairallah
Animation: Pamela Farhat and Michel Doumit
Cell animation: Rachel Mouawad
Additional animation: Sandra Harika
Sound design: Walid Sarrouh
