Studio AKA
Studio AKA is a London based animation company known internationally for their multi BAFTA winning and Oscar nominated animations. Due to the large group of animators, Studio AKA has animations of several styles and techniques making it hard to distinguish a style for the company as a whole.
BBC - Winter Olympics
For the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics, Studio AKA had director and designer Marc Craste create an animation in a snowy black and white world where an Inuit hero has to journey through various perils to restore light to the troubled world. In the end of the 40 second long advert, as the Inuit warrior destroys the monster/glacier, the stone flies off and becomes the head of a statue in a village above the Winter Olympics text and logo.
The animation is entirely in black and white, allowing the contrast between black and white to add interesting dynamics and a highly stylised feel to the animation similar to black and white graphic novels. The scenes with the wolves use snow to a very dramatic effect, reminding me in particular of Frank Miller artwork in comics such as Sin City. In this scene it seems as if they is more snow than in the beginning of the animation, perhaps to add intensity to the scene or to show how the Inuit warrior is pushing on through the storm because from the point that the canyon is jumped onwards the snow disappears. Although the most likely reason is that the bear ghost and many other key aspects towards the end of the animation would be obscured and incredibly hard to see through thick snow effects.
The camera shots used throughout the animation have been selected quite intelligently, many of them (in particular the bob-sled section) representing camera angles which would be used in the real Olympic games and helping bring the sport to mind before the text is even revealed announcing it. Mixed in with these shots are brief first person shots and close ups to help add even more drama to the animation.
To me it seems that the animation has been created in a 3D software and a cartoonish style applied to help enhance the black and white style. The characters, the Inuit warrior and the wolves seem to have been designed specifically for this style of animation, contrasting the white snow background but still keeping levels of detail to their models. The use of lighting has been used strangely as in many of the Olympic style scenes it does not really feature as intensely as in the beginning of the animation. However an explanation for this might be the location or again the way that the animation tries to emulate shots in the real Olympics.
In regards to the 3D animation trying to replicate 2D animation to some extend, I am impressed at the balance found between the two. The animation and character designs have obviously decided that by using thicker, more stylized linework, that this would push the animation more into the 2D styled category and remove several scenes which rely on silhouette for the illusion or 2D animation.
With the animation showcasing various sports in such a short time, the most obvious structure of the animation was a Journey/Quest style story in which the hero tries to get from point A to B showcasing a lot of action in the middle building up to a confronting the monster style finale eventually calming down to all the viewer to focus on the text. In the beginning of the animation, the Inuit warrior puts on his mask, this is a symbolic gesture frequently used in film to show how he is prepared for the mission, similar to a knight donning his armour before a joust or a soldier reading his gun.
The concept of the animation is quite clever as it shows the most popular Winter Olympic sports without being too direct with a protagonist that might appeal to children due to the high level of action. By choosing to have an Inuit as the main character, the animation references the age and heritage of many of the sports but in a modern way which might help appeal to the older audience. The defeating of the bear ghost and the glacier crumbling serves almost as a "big reveal" for the Olympic text and by leaving the description of the animation towards the end, it might surprise many of the viewers and excite them for the actual event and cause them to view the animation in a different way next time they see it. The whole time the animation is playing, a well known song builds up in the background to further add excitement to the finale.
The camera shots used throughout the animation have been selected quite intelligently, many of them (in particular the bob-sled section) representing camera angles which would be used in the real Olympic games and helping bring the sport to mind before the text is even revealed announcing it. Mixed in with these shots are brief first person shots and close ups to help add even more drama to the animation.
To me it seems that the animation has been created in a 3D software and a cartoonish style applied to help enhance the black and white style. The characters, the Inuit warrior and the wolves seem to have been designed specifically for this style of animation, contrasting the white snow background but still keeping levels of detail to their models. The use of lighting has been used strangely as in many of the Olympic style scenes it does not really feature as intensely as in the beginning of the animation. However an explanation for this might be the location or again the way that the animation tries to emulate shots in the real Olympics.
In regards to the 3D animation trying to replicate 2D animation to some extend, I am impressed at the balance found between the two. The animation and character designs have obviously decided that by using thicker, more stylized linework, that this would push the animation more into the 2D styled category and remove several scenes which rely on silhouette for the illusion or 2D animation.
With the animation showcasing various sports in such a short time, the most obvious structure of the animation was a Journey/Quest style story in which the hero tries to get from point A to B showcasing a lot of action in the middle building up to a confronting the monster style finale eventually calming down to all the viewer to focus on the text. In the beginning of the animation, the Inuit warrior puts on his mask, this is a symbolic gesture frequently used in film to show how he is prepared for the mission, similar to a knight donning his armour before a joust or a soldier reading his gun.
The concept of the animation is quite clever as it shows the most popular Winter Olympic sports without being too direct with a protagonist that might appeal to children due to the high level of action. By choosing to have an Inuit as the main character, the animation references the age and heritage of many of the sports but in a modern way which might help appeal to the older audience. The defeating of the bear ghost and the glacier crumbling serves almost as a "big reveal" for the Olympic text and by leaving the description of the animation towards the end, it might surprise many of the viewers and excite them for the actual event and cause them to view the animation in a different way next time they see it. The whole time the animation is playing, a well known song builds up in the background to further add excitement to the finale.
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