Creativa 
Bringing Waste to Life
Authors – Sarah Schwab, Monica Ip, Steve Bristow
The Shellharbour City Council, on the south coast of NSW, launched a campaign to educate its residents about how to properly dispose of waste. The campaign identified the four types of waste – general waste (red bin), recyclable waste (yellow bin), organic waste (green bin) and batteries (b-cycle centres). The council had the campaign graphic elements designed featuring a different mascot character and colour palette for each type of waste.
Shellharbour commissioned Creativa to create four animated explainer videos – one for each of the waste types. The videos were to be used on the website and social media.
Creative concept
Starting with the client’s existing artwork, which was already fun, humorous, and eye-catching, we were inspired to create animations that matched this lively energy. Our goal was to ensure the animations were just as captivating, quirky and appealing as the Shellharbour designs.
Our brief was to create four videos, each focusing on a particular world and hero character from the original print graphics. To make the videos feel like an integrated series, we prioritised a consistent tone in the scripts, recurring background characters, and re-using some visual elements. This would help the client’s marketing efforts by having a cohesive collection of animations and also create interest in the audience by giving them an incentive to watch the other videos!
Script writing
Inspired by the character designs and artwork, the scripts definitely needed to be quirky and fun. Our writer had a lot of fun crafting the scripts, which had to convey the comedy and appeal of the visuals and get the message across clearly. Of particular importance was the battery script, which had to educate residents about how to dispose of batteries properly, as the council have serious problems with truck fires caused by batteries! After a few revisions, we arrived at four scripts that everybody was happy with.
Casting
Because of how humorous the scripts were, we had to find vocal actors who could embody the characters’ cheeky and wild personalities. So, the casting process started with compiling vocal actors’ demo reels. However, we soon found that the demo reels were insufficient to judge the voices’ suitability, as we needed some very specific, cartoony performances.
So, the next round was a casting call to audition actors, asking them to record their performance using an extract from the script. After a lot of searching – from casting calls to talent agencies and Facebook groups, we finally narrowed down the cast.
Once the actors were cast, we had the task of directing the performances in a way that captured the client and director’s vision for the personality and tone of the characters. For each recording session we recorded a variety of takes with different energy and delivery styles so that the directors could pick the best takes for the scenes.
When recording, it’s hard to judge whether a read will successfully match with the visuals. However, the team at Creativa has a lot of practice at this, and we have pretty good instincts on whether a take will work. When choosing the best of various emotive takes, we consider how well it will bring the character to life in animation. Sometimes, getting that ideal take might involve us acting it out ourselves to give the actor a reference – which can be a little embarrassing, but is all in a day’s work.
Design
While Shellharbour provided the main characters’ designs, we still had a big task ahead of us – designing each of the worlds the characters lived in and how each moment in the storyboards would look.
To make each world distinctive, we adapted elements of the pre-existing artwork to build the base for our designs and added fun details that would contribute to the world building. For example, the red general waste world had nappies and piles of rubbish scattered around, while the FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) world was a nature-filled utopia with chirping birds and lush trees.
Animation
With four animations to complete, we assigned multiple animators to the project. To ensure a cohesive and fun style across all videos, our animation team collaborated closely, developing a unified approach that captured the same lively spirit in each animation.
We began with the FOGO animation to ensure the client was satisfied with our approach before moving on to the other three videos. We had to answer key questions: how did the characters move? Would some crazy camera movements work? Would the lip syncing be how the client imagined? Luckily, everyone loved it! So it was full-steam ahead for the other three animations.
The animators had a lot of fun bringing these characters to life with expressive character acting, dynamic transitions, and cute little details in the background elements.
Sound design
With the animation locked down, our sound designer got to work mixing the music, vocals and sound effects. The sound pulled it all together into a cohesive series of animations.
Summing up
We completed the four animations and a series of 4 social media cutdowns. The client loved it, and we had a blast making it. Hopefully, the world (or at least Shellharbour) will be a better place due to our work.
Crew
- Producers – Steve Bristow, Monica Ip
- Directors – Monica Ip, Sarah Schwab
- Writer – Ted Janet
- Storyboards – Monica Ip, Sarah Schwab
- Animators – Monica Ip, Juan Gonzales, Will Archer
- Sound design – Numpark Sribanditmongkol
Videos
General waste
Recycling
FOGO
Batteries
Looking to create captivating animations for your campaign? At Creativa, we specialise in 2D animation, 3D animation, and immersive animation, explore our Animation work. Whether you have a broad idea or a detailed brief, contact us or give us a call with your questions. Our team leverages cutting-edge technology to bring creative visions to life, ensuring your message resonates with your target audience.
