Herding Sheep for AA Life

Perry Bradley celebrates the year of the sheep with these animated creatures in his latest TVC.

Although his work is often heavily laden with VFX and CGI, this project showcases Perry Bradley as a pure animation director.

“I’ve always admired (Pixar director) John Lassiter,” says Perry, "so I jumped at the chance to create these characters entirely in 3D, and it's not unusual for live action directors to prove that they are also great animation directors."

Think Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and Robert Zemeckis.

“Of course the principles are universal - great characters, meaningful relationships, and the power of story, albeit in a very condensed story like a TVC,” explains Perry.

It’s a father and son story with a very Kiwi feel. Beautifully written by Hugh Walsh, with some fun dialogue between the exubernt lamb and the stolid father.

"I was immediately reminded of the relationship between Simba and Mufasa in The Lion King", says Bradley.

There were various options investigated for the realisation of these characters. Shooting real sheep and using mouth replacement - like in the film Babe - was a viable option. However the crew at Flux Media convinced Perry of the merits of entirely 3D sheep.

Backgrounds were shot on Jonkers farm in West Auckland, and guided by DOP James Rua who previously worked as 1st Unit stereographer on The Hobbit.

The incredible detail of this animation conveys how this technology and art form has advanced. Small nuances like the breathing of the Ram make these beasts very realistic.

“Hats off to the team at Flux Media for this state of the art work. This is a good indication that technology is heading to a point where almost anything can be convincingly animated. Bring on full CGI humans!” says Bradley.

Credits:

Agency: Rainger&Rolfe

Director: Perry Bradley

Producer: Felicia Brunsting

Senior Account Director: Alina Godfrey

DOP: James Rua

Grade: Peter Ritchie

Writer: Hugh Walsh

Art Director: Billy Hawley

Flux Media:

Head Creative: Brent Chambers

Animation Producer: Sue Chambers

Animation Director: Laban Dickinson

Happy Year of the Sheep from FCG