The project pitch got me super excited — we fly though various BC scenes, showing local farmers struggling to differentiate themselves in a market dominated by international brands. The look is 3d…. ish? …almost like a cut-out paper puppet show playing out the scenes in silhouette. Then, at the halfway point, we introduce the Buy BC label, and the camera reverses its path through the world as the former silhouettes erupt in vibrant colour.
To begin with, I wanted to create proof-of-concept artwork to demonstrate how this transformation would occur. Using a scene of BC salmon fishermen, I developed a range of colour palettes for the animation:
The client loved the artwork — perhaps a bit too much! They decided that the entire animation should be in full colour, instead of beginning in black-and-white and transitioning to colour.
The ‘Salmon’ scene, as it appeared in the final animation:
The client had already developed a cast of characters on paper, meant to portray a broad slice of British Columbian growers, fishers and food processors.
I created a number of rough concept sketches for each character:
And colour concepts:
I began with a quick animated storyboard:
Which was then laid out in 3d…
And the final animation:
