How animation took centre stage in 2020

How have animated projects in the advertising/promo industry fared across 2020?

A major upturn would be an understatement. There’s been a huge increase in enquiries and overall volume of projects since March. Animation has certainly been having a moment in 2020. 

Agencies and clients got the message quickly that animation was still open for business.

When Covid-19 first hit, and physical productions were cancelled, was there a clamour for animation?

The short answer is, yes. It is remarkable how little most 2D and CG animation workflows were affected by the pandemic, with everyone being able to execute everything remotely and individually from their own locations. Agencies and clients got the message quickly that animation was still open for business. Many already knew that this was the case, and that we were here to problem-solve existing ideas and help with new creative ideas.

Above: Duncan Gaman Executive Producer at Partizan Studio London.

Did some people see animation as 'a quick fix', and did that end up being the case?

When the repercussions of what was happening globally first started to be realised, it was understandable that clients wanted to get the lay of the land in terms of what was possible. Some ideas simply don’t translate to animation well from live-action, so it really is on a script-by-script basis to work out what is possible. All of our partner agencies quickly managed to rewrite and adapt scripts and advise on what could work for their clients. Ultimately, during that time, it was great to be in the mix with any idea and creative execution.  

[The lockdown] presented an incredible opportunity to get access to ideas that usually would not be immediately considered for an animation.

What were the most exciting thing(s) to come out of the lockdown period?

It has presented an incredible opportunity to get access to ideas that usually would not be immediately considered for an animation, and get to propose new creative solutions. Working with the directors and production team in a problem-solving way, from the visual output to the budget, timeline and often the work-flow. For example, in the summer we did a series of five Katy Perry music videos with Valle Duhamel, Sykosan, Mustashrik and Hoku & Adam, which were all predominantly 2D animation, but all of which had completely different final results. 

I loved Art Camp’s A Pearl music video for Mitski; a truly unique way to make a music video. So labour intensive, firstly blocking out as a CG animation [the ‘digital’ version], then printing on paper using InkJet printers and then, finally, drawing and painting over the top using traditional animation techniques. Practically speaking it’s like doing three jobs in one, resulting in such a beautiful final look. The pure craft involved gives each image more meaning. And Antoine Bardou-Jacquet’s Fantastic Voyage for Adobe is epic! The mash up of styles of animation characters is very cool.

Above: The Smile video series created for Katy Perry over the lockdown period.

Despite the vaccine and the beginning of the end of the pandemic, do you think animated projects will continue to grow in popularity?

Before Covid happened, one of the most important things was to encourage people to consider the medium of animation in the first place. So, putting it to the top of our clients’ minds can only be a good thing in the long term. 

I can’t wait to see what virtual production used in shows like The Mandalorian will do to traditional keyframe animation outputs.

Covid aside, what's been the biggest change in the animation industry of late - creatively or technologically?

The blending of mediums; we have seen a big increase in these type of enquiries. More mixed media, Into the Spiderverse-style CG and 2D, with hand-drawn traditional 2D FX. I see this as an area of growth, with cross medium collaborations becoming more common, from illustrators, fine artists, digital artists and developers. It’s a challenge, as the animation production pipeline has more layers to it so it ends up being inherently more complicated, but ultimately has an amazing overall aesthetic. I can’t wait to see what virtual production used in shows like The Mandalorian will do to traditional keyframe animation outputs. We proposed this type of approach on a pitch earlier this year, for a Super Bowl commercial, to try and hit a short deadline. Maybe the events of 2020 will accelerate the growth of this technology.