BOH Cameronian Arts

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  • Asia Image Apollo Awards
    2006: Best 2D Animation
  • Australian Effects & Animation Festival
    2005: Finalist - Commercial Animation
Client: Kaki Seni, Malaysia
MFX Director: Kwen Boon Yeo, Sidney Tan

The Cameronian Awards promo was designed to befit the medium it represented; the highly colourful and vibrant world of dance, music and theatre. The concept brought forth in this piece includes eccentric looking characters against a lush, textured background. The colours are earthy tones with inlaid ethnic patterns to suggest our country's rich blend of culture and races.

The initial idea was to simulate a clockwork theatre reminiscent of the famous Cabaret Mechanical Theatre of Covent Garden in London, UK, where characters pop out into their respective settings, moving as their mechanized clockworks would allow them. It presents the idea that these characters and their settings are not 'stand alones' - they were manipulated as it were, by other means from behind the stage. Other ideas also include having a 'cut out' look to the characters, giving them a three dimensional look even though they're made out of flat planes.

Through deliberation, the software used to execute the animation as required of this project is Adobe After Effects, as it would allow the usage of 3d space and lighting to simulate the cut out look minus the hassle of using an actual 3D software.

As maintained through the animation itself, the pacing is fast and almost breathless, as if willing the viewers to keep up or be left behind. The whole mood is one of quaint quirkiness, a combination of appealing creative designs and ambiguous ethnic charm.