- Cape Town:
- +27 (0)21 468 6000
- Johannesburg:
- +27 (0)11 788 9879
- E-mail us:
- contact us here
Nigerian Clay Animation Commercial
Shoot on a Sony PD150 and a Sony DSR 570, supplied by Visual Impact South Africa.
The commercial is being screened in Nigeria this Autumn.
South African animation studio 'Realize Animation' created two commercials (a 60 seconds and a separate 15 seconds) for 'The Cornerhouse Production Company' using the stop-motion technique of clay animation.
The commercials were shot on a Sony PD150 and a Sony DSR 570, supplied by Visual Impact South Africa, using direct-to-disk digital image recording.
Clay animation is the technique whereby individual photographs are taken of a plasticine subject and then played back at 25 frames a second to create the illusion that the plasticine is moving of its own accord.
The story was conceived by Executive Producer Deborah Corner of 'The Corner House Production Company' for their Lagos based client 'Mouka Foam Limited', manufacturers of foam and spring mattresses. Initially the concept was intended to be shot using live action, but the costs proved prohibitive and an alternative was sought in animation.
The commercial opens on a lion, our hero, who is being kept awake by jungle noises and is distressed still further by the backfiring of a pick-up truck as it drives past his jungle lair. The truck breaks down nearby and he goes off to investigate only to discover that it is carrying a much-to-be-desired 'Mouka' foam mattress. A tug-of-war ensues between the driver and our hero, who comes off victorious and escapes with the mattress. "Clay animation seemed the ideal route because of its wide appeal as an endearing form of expression, but we were initially concerned about the high cost of a traditional stop-frame production" says Deborah, who has had previous experience in producing clay animation for 'Chilile Productions'. "When we were introduced to 'Realize Animation' as an emerging studio that was animating with digital video and thus by-passing the cost and time constraints of film, we were thrilled to be able to work out a budget and production time-line that was realistic for our client."
Director and head animator Stuart Forrest established 'Realize Animation' in 2001 and the company has risen very quickly. In their first year of production they won Best Animation at the Multichoice Vuka! awards, and were consequently employed by 'Triggerfish Animation' to work on two seasons of stop-frame animation for 'Takelani Sesame', South Africa's version of 'Sesame Street'. Stuart welcomed the opportunity to work with 'Corner House' on the 'Mouka' production.
"Deborah gave us a great storyboard with very clear characters," says Stuart. "She also had clear expectations of lighting and set requirements, having worked with clay animation before. This enabled us to commission the character and set design very quickly, and we were able to start shooting an animatic within 3 weeks of our initial meeting."
Most of the animation was shot on a Sony DSR PD150, but some of the more complex shots were captured on the Sony DSR 570. "We used the Sony DSR 570 on scenes where we were going to use chroma keying, because we felt we'd get a cleaner key from this camera," says Stuart. "Visual Impact were very helpful and provided invaluable technical support as well as a reliable camera."
Visuals Group Technical Department.