Title: Chocolate soldiers // Cadbury Angels
Client: Cadbury/Mondelēz
Studio: Snappin Turtle
My role: Lead animator & motion designer
Before and after this project I'd made a lot of internal videos for Cadbury & Mondelēz, which for obvious reasons can't share. 2018 was World War One’s centenary and Cadbury wanted to mark it with memories of staff from the period who were caught up in the conflict and would be used to raise funds for the Royal British Legion. Photos were to be recoloured by the talented Tom Marshall and then I would be bringing the photos to life through animation.
The project took a few months and delivered on time, but it was challenging. Looking back I now I had wanted to do far more 3D mapping but when you look at some of the shots you’ve got maybe 60 plus people on screen in shots of the factory. There was just no way to sensibly model at the level of detail we had, so a more straightforward method was applied to cutouts of hundreds layers across the may photos in the project. In some cases compositing was appropriate, so a few stock or animated people in a far off shot was okay. Where I could replicate with some 3D elements like ivy outside a window I would. It was a sensitive project, the Cadbury family, whilst no longer owners of the company directly, did have a stake in their heritage and we had to respect their legacy as part of the production.
I think my favourite shots are the photo books we fly over with subtle gold leaf on the box of chocolates based on what was sent to the front - made in Maya and Vray, with the rest largely built in After Effect effects. I love the hospital shot where I managed to have a “small” enough shot to get in some 3D mapping. But above all the best thing about the project was getting to go to Birmingham University and photograph original images from the Cadbury Archive to send on for recolouring.
When it launched it initially had an exclusive with the Telegraph and was seen by 3.3 million people. It won “Campaigns for Good’s Best Fundraising Campaign” for the Royal British Legion and raised £2 million for the charity.
Additional credit due to:
Marvin Willis - 3D rigging on solider asset
Jon Beer - additional motion design on a couple of shots in Cadbury Angels are here, notably the male factory workers at 0.37 and the shot of female workers just after.