Commercials - Animation
Nissan - Cells
Blind Pig
blindpig.tv/portfolio/nissan-cells
Imagine this: 450m of wall in a hot desert, clad with 150 illustrated frames, each one printed out 3m by 2m in size. Nissan’s all-electric ARIYA drives past, camera attached to the bonnet, capturing footage as it goes. The result? A larger-than-life Zoetrope animation. (In its traditional form, an optical cylinder, which, when spun, gives the illusion of continuous motion.)
The brief was to design, illustrate and execute 150 illustrations, which when put side-by-side and captured via a moving camera, would represent the smooth acceleration of Nissan's ARIYA.Nissan's Formula E team wanted to give the illusion of a Zoetrope-style animation, so it was Blind Pig's job to seamlessly execute great craft, whilst also giving a nod to the brand's Japanese heritage.We first storyboarded the concept frames and kanji (Japanese writing).
Initially, we featured skylines, but ultimately, this detracted from the impact.Animator, Christine, designed her own paint brushes to match the aesthetic. We were supplied with 3D car models, which assisted in working out the base of the animation. The final step was to test the animation digitally before it went to print.Brush textures were imperative to the consistency of Nissan’s brand aesthetic, so we designed own paint brushes (and executed the drawings) within TVPaint, a 2D software for frame-by-frame animation.
We also used Cinema4D to build the previs. The hand-drawn sequences were brought together in After Effects.Blind Pig Animator, Christine says: “This was an exhilarating campaign to work on. I've never worked on something quite of this scale before, so to be involved and watch my brush strokes come to life was a truly electrifying experience.”
CREW
Animation Studio - Blind PigDesign & Animation - Christine PetersProducer - Ollie IrelandExecutive Producer - Thierry Levy
Agency - Dark Horses
Producer - Leah Wattley
Executive Creative Director - Steve Howell
Chief Strategy Officer - Matt Readman
Creative Directors - Adam Burns, Paco Lopez
Head of Production - Andy Walsh
Production Company - UNIT9 Films
Director - James Medcraft
Creative Director - Sean Pruen DOP - Carl Burke
Executive Producer - Greg Hemes Producer - Geoff Stickler
Edit - Alex Burt
Service Company - Blur Films
Post Production - Absolute
Colour - Juliette Wileman
Flame - Daniel Adams, Eldon Snelgrove, Antonio Jimenez Nuke - Harvey David, Tommy Coulter ListenProducer - Ollie Ireland