Animated clips for EWE
"We are with you"
With animated clips very close to the customer. EWE commissioned us to work with them to create several films (corporate films / commercials) for their various events. These include soccer matches, running events, festivals, game shows and basketball games. After extraordinarily creative style-finding sessions, we came up with a clear visual language and an equally clear message: Whether big or small, ewe is with you!
It was an exciting journey that we would like to take you on here: from the initial idea to its implementation. And what we would do differently today ...
Finding a style
The first idea
The idea was to exaggerate film footage, with lots of effects and 'bang'. An eye-catcher, with characters you can put yourself in. Young and cheeky with exciting scenes, cool camera movements and spectacular transitions.
The first idea
The idea was to exaggerate film footage, with lots of effects and 'bang'. An eye-catcher, with characters you can put yourself in. Young and cheeky with exciting scenes, cool camera movements and spectacular transitions.
Is this the right way to go?
But the first film was too far removed from the corporate colors and too exciting. It should fit more with the corporate identity! And then there was the problem with the faces and the question: how do we really convey the message clearly?
But the first film was too far removed from the corporate colors and too exciting. It should fit more with the corporate identity! And then there was the problem with the faces and the question: how do we really convey the message clearly?
Clear images, clear messages and the focus on people!
Figures without faces? Crazy drawings? In the end, it was the humanity that was missing. EWE wanted to get very close to the people and the great events. As real and as unobstructed as possible! So we had to come up with a new concept for the animated clips: less animation and more people.
Figures without faces? Crazy drawings? In the end, it was the humanity that was missing. EWE wanted to get very close to the people and the great events. As real and as unobstructed as possible! So we had to come up with a new concept for the animated clips: less animation and more people.
The idea: clear messages are integrated directly into real footage. Very close to the people. Unambiguous, authentic and collaborative
On to the clip production!
Now we knew where the journey was going! Our colleagues shot footage at the events based on jointly developed requirements. We then carefully sifted through this footage and selected the best scenes. And where something was missing, we used stock footage (scenes purchased from an online media library).
Now we knew where the journey was going! Our colleagues shot footage at the events based on jointly developed requirements. We then carefully sifted through this footage and selected the best scenes. And where something was missing, we used stock footage (scenes purchased from an online media library).
EWE refined the wording for the typography in the films. We then set about implementing the animation and, above all, rotoscoping the scenes
Animated clips - painstaking manual work
Rotoscoping, or cropping moving objects in After Effects, was still laborious manual work at the time of production. Every finger and every curl had to be considered, every blur had to be corrected manually
Rotoscoping, or cropping moving objects in After Effects, was still laborious manual work at the time of production. Every finger and every curl had to be considered, every blur had to be corrected manually
Artificial intelligence helps!
As the title "Rotoscoping with AI" suggests, a lot has happened since this project was realized. The topic of artificial intelligence has also found its way into our animation software Adobe After Effects. You can find out exactly what has changed in our Making Of for this project on our Weltenwandler-Blog, but more on this later.
As the title "Rotoscoping with AI" suggests, a lot has happened since this project was realized. The topic of artificial intelligence has also found its way into our animation software Adobe After Effects. You can find out exactly what has changed in our Making Of for this project on our Weltenwandler-Blog, but more on this later.
And now for the other formats!
The work on the animated clips for football, basketball, game events, running events and festivals was almost complete. Finetuning the transitions and the minimalist typo animations was the last step before approval. So we could now move on to the final phase: format conversion
The work on the animated clips for football, basketball, game events, running events and festivals was almost complete. Finetuning the transitions and the minimalist typo animations was the last step before approval. So we could now move on to the final phase: format conversion
Animated clips for social media
The usual format of films for YouTube and other streaming platforms is 16:9 (landscape format). For social media, however, it is 1:1 or the portrait format 9:16. We created new clips for these applications based on the landscape formats and adapted the rotoscoping work and animations.
The usual format of films for YouTube and other streaming platforms is 16:9 (landscape format). For social media, however, it is 1:1 or the portrait format 9:16. We created new clips for these applications based on the landscape formats and adapted the rotoscoping work and animations.
We had this step in mind right from the start. For example, when selecting the scenes or the typo animation. This has now paid off, allowing us to implement this work step within a reasonable time frame
Times are changing!
The project of these animated clips is not that old and yet a lot has happened in the meantime. The effort required to cut things out of the moving image has changed fundamentally (as already mentioned). Artificial intelligence can also be used to influence films in other ways, such as adding objects or changing the film format (landscape to portrait). They simply fill in empty areas with content that they calculate from the existing material.
The project of these animated clips is not that old and yet a lot has happened in the meantime. The effort required to cut things out of the moving image has changed fundamentally (as already mentioned). Artificial intelligence can also be used to influence films in other ways, such as adding objects or changing the film format (landscape to portrait). They simply fill in empty areas with content that they calculate from the existing material.
Are we afraid of the future? Or are we afraid of losing our jobs? A clear no! On the contrary, AI is already providing active support in our day-to-day work. It makes things easier, not only for us, but also for our customers.
After all, how did the famous director Guillermo del Toro answer the question of whether he was afraid of artificial intelligence?
I'm not afraid of artificial intelligence, I'm afraid of natural stupidity.
See you soon, your world changers!
