Animating an Animation About Animation
Do clients really know what happens when they go to an animation studio with their project? Are they aware of all the intricate details that go into animating a project, or of the different stages of animating? Is anybody? These are some questions that animation studio Panic wanted to answer once and for all, and it did so with the help of grumpy old man Berthold, the main character in its explanatory short film ‘Berthold Gone Wild’.
“It was a practical need that turned into an artistic endeavour for us! We get a lot of questions from clients about our animation process, so we decided to come up with an animated boilerplate,” says Rita Alika Šteimane, CEO of the studio. “Something that would guide you through the steps of an animation project. And here it is - our animation process explained. We figured that the citizens of the animation world would find it useful for their FAQs too. We made it in our LOUD style of course, but the essence is there and we think that the animation industry will be better understood now. Fingers crossed!”
Because the topic of the film was their own animation process, which they know extremely well, it proved easy to exploit when it came to flexing their animation muscles. It’s something Panic felt comfortable speaking about and also felt the need to - something they know down to the tiniest detail. Having full control over the brief and execution also allowed them to remove limitations that would be tripping points in other projects. ”[This was] the ideal project, so to say, hence the output is all the way we like it. We maxed out on every bit of the film - from script, to characters and side effects.” But nothing’s ever this easy.
In fact, the first moodboard deck for the project is dated December 1, 2020, and the idea itself predates even that. For Panic, the biggest challenge seemed to be finding the time for their own lovechild of a project. “It’s a classic shoemaker without the shoes situation,” says Rita. “Because we devote all of our time to our client projects and needs, and sacrificing our own thing is what most of us do, tight? So, the discipline of doing your own unpaid thing is hard.” Otherwise, once the ball started rolling, Rita says that every moving part of the project proved to be fun for the studio - from script developing, to moodboard, to colours, to character, to little daily tweaks. And how wouldn’t it be? It’s a classic ‘show me, don’t tell me’ situation, as Panic put it. Getting as deep as you can behind the screen - experience animation as it’s being made and manipulated by the animation studio, as if it’s being watched and created simultaneously. It’s quite meta, actually. We watch Berthold come to life and be pushed across all the stages he would go through had he been part of a client film.
The colours, as mentioned earlier, are the classic loud identity that we know Panic studio for - green and purple galore, with some additional details that pop out in front of a striking neon backdrop. The goal here was to create ‘an expressive and saturated colour palette’ that would underline Berthold’s contrasting experiences. On top of that, a holographic gradient was used to punch up some story highlights. “The sequence of colour blocking underlines how Berthold and the other characters feel, and delivers the idea that unpredictable events unfold from dusk till dawn (and not the other way around).”
Rita continues, explaining the animation: “We combined daringly saturated and utopic colour choices in characters and scenery with exaggerated character motions. The colour script breaks down the segments of Berthold’s day; colour blocking separates the cooler and sunny morning from a moodier evening and the ‘dark room’ backstage, where brainless monkey characters are channelling our hard-working animator energy.”
Besides this, cinematography and sound design played a massive role in the meta-telling of this behind the scenes story, to create the ‘cadence of the storyline’. After all, Berthold literally goes through jail, dies and resurrects in the span of two minutes, so he deserves a good voiceover and some ‘extra crispy’ audio.
Berthold is a fictional character that Panic created specifically for this story, but he truly embodies the inner spirit of the studio. “A grumpy, well-odoured, cursing grandpa with a good amount of street credit,” as they put it. “That’s where we all want to end up in our professional lives.” Acting as everybody’s inner critic, a pinnacle of the story, and a convenient ragdoll, Berthold was a ‘handy vehicle’ for the storyline. “We pushed and pulled him through the story vehemently, as you can see. The rest of the characters are a very broad selection of non-binary animals and creatures.”
While he is the centrepiece, Berthold is not the only loud thing in the film. Sure, it’s educational and helps clients understand the processes behind closed doors at animation studios - but it’s also funny. The self-deprecating humour and breaking of the fourth wall from the voiceover, the unexpected but hilarious self-deprecating jokes make this so much more than just an exercise in relatability. “It’s who we are and this is the language we speak internally,” comments Rita. The humour the studio utilises not just in ‘Berthold Gone Wild’ but in a lot of its other work is something she believes is inescapable - because this is just who Panic are. “Being able to take a joke is something we want to be present in our daily process. It doesn’t have to end up in every animation we create but behind the scenes, it’s part of our ethos.”
With all this considered - from the immersive storyline, to the incredible voice over and audio - Panic wanted to show us not just how animation is made but how they make it. How they get into the spirit and meaning of an idea, how flexible and fluent they are at speaking a thousand different creative languages. “If there’s another task for the animation, we totally immerse ourselves in its spirit and client needs, and the output can be nothing like this. We truly empathetically deep dive into each task and tailor it accordingly. We could certainly afford going bold and loud on ourselves, but it’s totally different with each brand and project.”
So, what should we take away from this film? “The feeling of us,” says Rita. “We tried to show, not tell, how our own processes work. And also just have pure fun.”
