Directed by Ellie Land, Plunge is an 8 minute animation / live action hybrid documentary short film. The story is based on the life of cold-water swimmer Katie Wotton. Second Home Studios worked in collaboration with Sheffield based Tyke Films on look development and compositing for the animated sequences
Style: Compositing
Client: Tyke Films, BFI
Year: 2024
The Story
Directed by Ellie Land, “Plunge tells the story of Katie who found empowerment, friendship, and healing by plunging into frigid waters of the sea. As her voice relates to us the physical and mental struggles that have plagued her for decades, her animated form darts confidently through kelp forests on the ocean floor. She tells us about her strong community and the tremendous physical benefits of cold-water swimming. Through Katie’s story this beautiful film addresses themes of isolation and connection, mental health and wellbeing, and climate change and empowerment.”
The Brief
Tyke Productions approached us to complete 57 shots / 5+ minutes of compositing for the animated sections of Plunge which takes up the majority of the screen time. Director Ellie Land developed a distinct cinematic style and colour palette which could only be achieved by taking 2D animation and background intro 3D space. Second Home Studios worked in close collaboration with her to achieve compositing.
Our Process
Tyke relied on our decades worth of animation experience to steer them through development to provide us with a pre-production pack which included an animatic (moving storyboards), mood boards, color scripts, background and character animation delivered as layered assets for each shot. Tyke were won over by our attention to detail and flexibility.
Post Production
We began with an R&D process to define the vision and approach. We selected one shot from each scene that we would serve as our hero shots. These few shots were put through our look development pipeline and taken all the way to the final picture. The underwater look was achieved in compositing by a combination of 3D particles, lighting effects and gradings background elements to match the backgrounds and colour script. Once these shots were approved they would serve as our Northstar for each scene and sequence.
In order to complete all 57 shots on time and on time, on budget and in alignment to Elie’s vision required our process was broken down into 4 passes with a review and approval stages;
- Pass 1: Slap Comp, scene setup, 2.5D & 3D camera moves for depth and parallax.
- Pass 2: Character animation, background animation, refining pass 1.
- Pass 3: Particles, transitions, lighting, grading to match the color script, refining pass 2.
- Pass 4: Shot finaling, lens effects; vignettes, edge blur, chromatic aberration, rendering.
Plunge is currently on the international film festival circuit and had its world premier at Edinburgh Film Festival 2024.