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Tobias Hall x Greene King

Written by Dario at Handsome Frank , Featured Project

Tobias' illustrations flicker to life in this ambitious zoetrope/projector animation using 355 laser cut cans and a whole loada’ ingenious planning

Illustrations by Tobias Hall

Illustrations by Tobias Hall flicker to life in this advert for Greene King

Handsome Frank illustrator Tobias Hall was tasked with creating the characters and assets to form the animation for Greene King's latest ad campaign.

While the resulting 30 second clip could easily be mistaken as a very well rendered CGI composite, it is in fact the result of 355 individually laser cut cans. Maybe just reread that for a second. Three hundred and fifty five individually laser cut cans.

Illuminated from within, the cans project each frame to create a constantly evolving backdrop while wheeling camerawork swings in an action packed scene. Can't wait to see what that looks like? here it is...

Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio

The concept was, to be blunt, bonkers. But thanks to the incredible production by Blink Ink and a lot of work by a long list of people (see below!) it was executed to perfection - surely deserving of an award or two..?

Their mind bending planning had to take into account things like changing perspectives, as the light would travel different distances before hitting the contoured surfaces of the surrounding walls.

‘Normal’ laser cut projections would have risked the illustrations becoming entirely distorted when shown against the varied background so Director Balazs Simon at Blink Ink devised complex algorithms to calculate how the laser cut frames needed to be distorted to allow them to be seen straight. Check out his instagram posts for even more detail on how they made it all happen!

Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio
Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio

In the resulting masterpiece, Tobias’ illustrated elements move seamlessly across both the can and the background as the camera pans upward.

Words hardly do it justice, so you have to watch it to believe it. And if you don’t believe it, or just want to learn more about the work that went into this mad masterpiece, you can check out the incredible behind-the-scenes video that reveals all!

Illustrations by Tobias Hall

Illustrations by Tobias Hall

Full list of credits:

Agency: House 337 @house337

Creative Director: Steve Hawthorne @seve7

Art Director: Pete Ioulioanou @pete_ioulioanou

Copywriter: Ollie Agius @ollieagius

Head of Strategy: Laura Sammarco

Account Management:: Rich Williams & Kelly Mahon

Agency Producer: Henry Davies

Production Company: Blinkink @blink_ink

Director: Balázs Simon @notbalasz

Executive Producer: Bart Yates

Executive Producer: Josef Byrne

Head of Production: Alex Halley @alexhalley

Producer: Sami Goddard @samigoddard

Illustration: Tobias Hall @tobiashall

Storyboard Artist: Mysie Pereira @mysiepereira

Laser Cutting: Laser Cut Works @lasercutworks

Studio Manager: Daisy Garside @daisygarside

DOP: Max Halstead @colossal_squid

Gaffer: Elliot Beach @elliot_be

Stop Motion Animators: Andy Biddle @andyrbiddle & Tobias Fouracre @tobiasfouracre, Chris Ullens @chris.ullens

Can Fabrication & Rigging: Andrew Spradbury @albanstudios

Set Build: Mattes and Miniatures @mattesandminiatures_ltd, Leigh Took @leightook, Lauren Took @laurentook, Richard Grant @rgproduct & Mitch Barnes @mitchbarnesmodelmaker

Animation Lead: Reg Isaac @reg_isaac

Animators: Yagizhan Misirli @yagizmisirli & Andrew Clarke @atomiclarke

Clean Up Supervisor: Katherine Spangenberg @katiediazz.art (http://katiediazz.art/)

Clean Up Artists: Dylan Wilson @dylandawilson, Sameera Joshi @_samzoshi_, Kat Michaelides @pbmoth, Jack Zhang @animate_jack

Post House: GYÁR

Grade: Kai Van Beers @1920.vfx

Music: Major Tom @major_tom_music

Sound: Dugal Macdiarmid @kinglearlondon

Shot at Clapham Road Studios @claphamrdstudio


Tobias’s Folio

Tobias Hall Sipsmith
Tobias Hall typographic illustrator
Tobias Hall - Typographic Illustrator
Tobias Hall - Typographic Illustrator
Tobias Hall - Typographic Illustrator