A short film shown at the new Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery.

Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery is a centre dedicated to providing shelter and world class care for native wildlife. The animals are sent to the centre after treatment from Massey University’s Wildbase where they go through rehabilitation. They are open to visitors who can come and explore the facility, meet the residents and learn about the conservation of Aotearoa’s wildlife.

Dusk was approached by Open Lab and Creative Director Tanya Marriott to create a short film depicting a short history of of Aotearoa through the eyes of a Huia, the now extinct native birds.

The Story

The concept for this project was to create a seamless flowing animation with no cuts or transitions and instead using a continuous linear move across. By using a single flowing ‘Mega Comp’ instead of cutting to different scenes, I hoped to capture the feeling of a flowing timeline to connect the past and present. We witness scenes of prehistoric Aotearoa, the Maori connection to the land and the creatures, their connections to their ancestors, the introduction of settlers which lead to fires and predators and finally to the extinction of the Huia. By visually connecting these events in history I hoped to express the interconnectedness and implications these chain of events can have on the delicate balance of our wildlife and the land.

Dusk worked closely with the lovely Tanya Marriott the Creative Director in charge of developing the overall design and interactive content for the centre. This animation is only a small part of a larger project which has won Tanya a bronze and three finalists at the DINZ Best Awards and a Red Dot Concept in Singapore. Please check out her whole project here.

Style Frames

Although we were describing the history of Aotearoa, we were telling the story through the eyes of the Huia. Rather than getting analytical and focused on realistic details, we decided to take a more abstract approach with focus on storytelling and emotions. The initial styleframes were created with emphasis on cinematic shots playing with bold contrasting colours, lighting and compositions.

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*Style frames exploring the general tone and colours palette.*

Storyboard

To create the illusion of a continuously flowing narrative, the storyboard was made up of a single extremely wide image (or a ‘mega comp’). It was important to have no hard edges that separated the different shots but instead blending them seamlessly to emphasis the connection between the shots. The process was a little different to simply recreating a time-lapse video of a single environment as it needed to be a little more abstract than that to work with the script.

*Full storyboard sketch made up of a single ‘Mega comp’. The story unfolds as the camera continuously pans right.*

Creature Designs

The creature designs were created by Tanya and Bo Moore to keep a consistent style throughout the other interactive pieces within the centre.

The Centre

2018 saw the long-awaited public opening of the Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery. The internal space is filled with wonderful interactive designs and educational stations brought to life with much energy and love by Creative Director Tanya Marriott (who holds conservation and wildlife very close to heart).