The Context
Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma were launching their own Film Production company called Clean Slate Filmz. They wanted an identity that captured the essence of their philosophy that every movie they made would begin from a “clean slate”. No baggage, no stereotype, no formula to telling the kind of stories they wanted to. Just starting afresh every single time with happiness and focus. An identity that would work perfectly when animated as a “Movie Studio Logo”.
The Concepts
We wanted to convey the Clean Slate philosophy in a not so preachy manner. We also wanted to give a cinema connection to the identity in some way. That’s how the cool zebra came about. A mascot that when animated captures the Clean Slate belief in a humorous yet philosophical way. A story that reminds one the importance of starting with a clean slate everytime life yells “action” and staying happy no matter what.
The Craft
We decided to execute it as a simple 2D animation. A lot of time was spent designing the zebra character and getting his many expressions spot on. This also helped the identity get carried forward on static mediums in a nice way. With the character ready to roll, smooth and slick animation along with good sound design and a nice musical flourish at the end, gave Clean Slate Filmz the endearing and memorable movie studio logo they wanted.
Character Design
Rendering the Remington Typewriter in 3D was an elaborate process. Creating a model for an instrument that did not exist in the form that we were visualising it in came with it’s own sets of challenges. For one, there was no visual reference. But that’s what made the process exciting. It wasn’t us just creating a 3D model. It was akin to building a new type of typewriter altogether.
Animation
Conceptually to bridge the gap from instrument to ghostly spirit, we envisioned using a flash of live action at the end. It involved a 4K shoot of an eye just to bring the authenticity and drama to that last blink-and-you-miss-it frame of the sequence. However, the director envisioned a different ending and this bit, exciting as it was, did not make it to the final cut.