Strange Beast Creates Stop-Frame Spot for Curtin University

Strange Beast directing duo Kijek/Adamski unveil their latest project, an intricate-yet-elegant stop-motion promotional film for Western Australia’s Curtin University.

Strange Beast directing duo Kijek/Adamski have unveiled their latest project, an intricate-yet-elegant stop-motion promotional film for Western Australia’s Curtin University.

“Degree” uses thousands of paper shapes to create a morphing effect, demonstrating the diversity of the university’s students around the world, the positive impact that attaining a degree from Curtin can have on their life and how “awesome awaits” its graduates.

Advertising agency Marketforce Australia approached production company Strange Beast having seen Kijek/Adamski’s mesmerizing music video for Shugo Tokumaru’s track “Katachi” with a view to creating a film in a similar style. “They wanted to create a piece that represents awesomeness,” the directors enthuse.

Despite employing a similar animation technique to that used in “Katachi,” the directors used different materials to achieve it -- notably laser-cut paper shapes instead of plastic ones, each one hand-painted in a lengthy painstaking process. “We wanted to keep the texture of the silhouettes, showing the handmade material as an important human touch in the general technical smartness,” explain the duo.

Kijek/Adamski shot the film in their native Warsaw, and with the client and agency in Australia and production run by Strange Beast in London, the project was a global collaboration. “The production was so smooth. We proved that there are no boundaries anymore,” say the directors, who point to their favorite parts of the film: “We like the moments where the installation turns into a rhythmic, abstract piece. It's almost hypnotizing.”

Source: Strange Beast

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.