The Beyond the Bars campaign focuses on the life after captivity for animals around the world.

The first part of our work was to take the ‘bar graphic’ made by PMW and bring it to life with animation. We animated in each of the 7 coloured bars, representing the bars of a cage, and then each nominated animal type appeared at the top of its respective bar via a video clip before turning into an animated sihouette which walked from the central bar to their home bar, breaking free from the cage whilst doing so.

The animation needed to fit exactly to the shape of the wall at the event venue – which had a curved top half to it. This animation was then backed to a bespoke audio track featuring spot effects and animal noises. The animation had pride of place on the night, opening the evening dinner and speeches section of the night. After that, it continued to play on a loop throughout the night with the animals doing random character animations, always giving the attendees something to watch.

For the live event video production on the night itself, we covered the entire event with a wide angle and backed it up with a GoPro shooting a timelapse from set up to de-rig of the room. We filmed the talks, mingling and various other events with two Blackmagic cameras.

We shot the entire night from arrivals through to the press area coverage, speeches, auction and song performances from Margaret Keys. Speakers included Born Free founders Virginia McKenna and Will Travers, actress Joanna Lumley and actor Martin Clunes.

The edit was designed to work as both a document of the night but also as a promotional piece for the charity, to inspire people to take action and get involved.

Find out more about the project in our Client Case Study.

Directed, Edited and Filmed by Geoff Cockwill

DOP – Martin Clarke

Animation by Ben Milner