by Grace Kinya
Client
Project goal
We were hired to create a short animated video that advocates for communication between the Turkana people and oil and gas companies.
Project start date
April 1st 2021
Project length
6 months
Animation style used
2D cutout animation.
The process
The project followed the typical animation production format of pre-production, production, and post production.
In pre-production, we researched the story and the setting. We used reference pictures to understand Turkana’s landscape. In retrospect, information gathering would have been faster if we had visited the location. Also, collecting folly sounds would have been more authentic if we were on location. The storyboards were drawn by our superb artist, Junior, who had a quick turnaround of two days to a week, which helped the project move along. For the character design, the client wanted us to use our design style, which we did. Character design also presented a challenge because we did not want any side to look bad (Turkana people and Gas companies), and we did not want to have stereotypes. Both sides of the debate needed to look genuine. At this stage, the script was also created, and the art director was settling on a look and feel. Many people take an art director for granted but an art director is important for unifying and standardising the style. The aesthetic of the video needs to complement the story.
Production went on smoothly. The animation was based on the animatic that was created in pre production. An animatic is a scene-by-scene illustration slideshow video that we use to manage timing and sound. The background artist had already started working in pre production since there were many backgrounds to design. For the soundtrack, we gave the client three samples to choose from. The final soundtrack was an upbeat tune that harmonised Turkana culture, digital instruments and ethnic singing. The sound designer also prepared his sounds by blocking, creating folly sounds and collecting sound clips.
Post-production also went on very smoothly because our client knew the animation process and was involved from the beginning. Post-production involved editing, which aims at keeping the video lean and ensuring it communicated what it intended. We realised at this point that it was difficult to see the oil tankers so we made the oil rigs bigger. We also added narration to tie the pictures together. Finally, compositing took place – we brought the animation elements together. We put the animated characters with our backgrounds and mixed and mastered the sound.
Project outcome
The animation was distributed locally through mobile platforms in Turkana and shared with the oil and gas companies in the region.
Credits
- Script – Wachera Njaramba
- Storyboard/Animatic – Geoffrey Muikia, Junior
- Illustration – Ray Gicharu
- Animation – Mutai Emmanuel, Mutzz
- Compositor – Harto Muhato
- Editor – Harto Muhato
- Sound – DJ Fazy
- Producer – Collins Busuru
- Art Director – Ray Gicharu
- Director – Harto Muhato
- Narration – Grace Kinya
Client testimonial
“ Working with Tsunami was a breath of fresh air. It was a brilliant collaboration and BUNI Media is looking forward to working with Tsunami in the future”.
Watch the video below: