Press release:
Trunk were approached by the guys at FP Creative who, having seen Alasdair + Jock’s fabulous thank-you film for Land Rover at the Trunk summer screening, realised animation could possibly solve a rather tricky brief. They needed a film that evoked the ethos of Jaguar’s new all-aluminium technical architecture, the foundation of the stunning new C-X17 sports crossover concept vehicle – without actually showing the car itself. They also needed it to be ready to coincide with the C-X17’s global debut at the world’s biggest motor show in Frankfurt.
Credits
Director: Rok Predin
Animation: Martin Oliver, Francisco Puerto Esteban, Layla Atkinson, Rok Predin, Will Jarvis
Art Workers: Jenny Jokela, Sarah Yan
Composer: Sebastijan Duh
Sound Design: Jake Roberts
Sound Mix: JM @ Fonic
Compositing: Rok Predin
Producer: Richard Barnett
Animation Concept: Trunk
Agency: FP Creative
Prod Co: Trunk Animation
After a brainstorming session at Trunk, the initial concept for the short was formed around the idea of capturing the passion and vigour found in the sketches and drawings created by Jaguar’s talented designers. The idea that something so complex as building a car could evolve from such seemingly simple sketched lines on a page caught our imaginations. We worked with the design team’s beautiful original sketches, which were captured and developed into a network of lines that takes the viewer on an exhilarating ride through an ever-evolving landscape. The lines represent the free flow of ideas and concepts at Jaguar, while the landscape narrates the mechanics and geometry of the new build process.
To retain the hand-rendered look of the concept sketches, the pencil lines were first created in Flash, then printed out and traced by hand. Hence those blazing pencils, as Trunk’s art workers sat hour after hour studiously over their light boxes. This backbreaking work ensured the finished animation provided the lines with a subtle boil and beautiful fluidity as they wound their way through the geometric landscape. Narrated by Jaguar’s Design Director Ian Callum, this striking film evokes the passion and drive that everyone at Jaguar has for their work – they truly are devoted to great design.
The talented Rok Predin directed the project and ensured that the film flowed hand-in-hand with the narration. “The key,” says Rok, “was to offer the audience a different way of looking at what was being described by Ian – but at the same time trying to keep everything as pared back as possible by just using our pencil and card architecture, which at times was fairly tricky!” He chose to use Cinema 4D to put the short together and to mix the hand-rendered 2D lines with 3D rendered elements. The guys worked with composer Sebastijan Duh, who created and composed a beautiful track which the animators worked to. Jake Roberts took care of the sound design, with a final mix by JM at Fonic, who, as always, really brought the project together.
We can happily report that the new concept car and Trunk’s film were presented to the world’s media, successfully conveying the great possibilities offered by the new architecture at Jaguar. Nearly a million visitors passed through the doors at Frankfurt over the twelve show days in September and I’m sure a vast number of them visited the Jaguar stand.
