Subvision animate Kung Fu action for CBBC

A CBBC presenter confronted by a kung fu fighting bug escaping by a drop through cyberspace is just one of two animated sequences that Subvision have completed for BBC Broadcast.
The sequences form part of the new opening for the CBBC channel, which will be aired each morning over the next few months until September this year.
The opening starts with the transformation of the BBC TV Centre into a cartoon version that houses the CBBC studios. Subvision enhanced the live footage of the BBC building as the British winter provided one of its grey overcast skies on the day of the shoot. A new sky was added complete with fluffy clouds and the whole scene was re-coloured. The transformation was built up from layers of animation as different parts of the building appear to form the CBBC TV Centre. Although the computer models were 3D they were treated with a Toonreyes renderer a process which flattens the colours to give them a traditional 2D cartoon look.
This was especially important for the second sequence. In this scene an animated version of Jake, one of the CBBC presenters, had to have a Kung-Fu fight with a green CBBC bug. The style had to match as the bug characters had already been given a cartoon look. The Kung-Fu bug animation already existed as a sting but was extended and re-edited at Subvision. The original sting also showed two bugs fighting each other so one was matted out and replaced by Jake. His characters Kung Fu moves were then matched to the bugs. At the end of the sequence Jake escapes falling down a vortex of CBBC web pages, which bring him out as his live action self in the CBBC studios.
The extremely tight deadline with a character, two environments and just over 30 seconds of animation completed in less than two weeks, meant that Subvision had to work very closely with Yvonne Cole the BBC Broadcast creative in charge. However, bar a few very late nights, the project went without a hitch.
The sequences were directed by Subvision’s Stefan Wernik with animation by Ben Marrs and compositing editing and effects by Jarema Wernik.
(GB)