RCM - Elsie MacGill
This is one of a handful of spots we directed for the Royal Canadian Mint over the years with IAMSTATIC. And while we’re proud of them all, this one stands out as a favourite. We really got to spread our wings on this one. (And use flight puns!)
The Queen of the Hurricanes
We knew way too little about Elsie MacGill when we first started this project. But now that we know plenty, we talk about “the Queen of the Hurricanes” whenever we get the chance.
“She was the first woman aeronautical engineer IN THE WORLD!”
“She oversaw the Canadian production of the Hawker Hurricane for the RAF!”
“There’s a WWII-era comic book about her life!”
“She has an Order of Canada, in part, for her women’s and girls’ rights advocacy!”
Clearly, we’re big fans.
The comic book look.
We don’t usually talk (publicly) about short timelines — there’s never enough time, everyone knows this — but this project had a legitimately tight schedule of four weeks, and the client wanted a spot that referenced the comic book published about her in the ‘40s. Not easily deterred by what seems impossible, our team at IAMSTATIC landed on a beautiful solution to the time-crunch challenge.
The Layout
We decided to limit the animation as much as possible and lean more heavily on modern-meets-nostalgic comic-book illustrations. We developed the storyboard and then inserted the panels into what would be a comic-book spread. We then panned the camera from panel to panel, landing on the key moments in her life we were highlighting in the VO. To kick it up a notch, we sprinkled in a bit of strategic animation here and there. In the end, we delivered on time, everyone got home for dinner, no tears were shed — we don’t think? — and everyone involved was super-proud of it.
Sometimes limitations can lead to great solutions.
Credits
Directed by Bellzon Studio
Client: The Royal Canadian Mint
Agency: McCann Canada
Production Company: IAMSTATIC
Creative Directors: Ron Gervais, Dave Greene
Executive Producer: Cathy Jefferies
Producer: Nadine Kalinauskas
Director: Matthew Kalinauskas
Storyboard & Layout: Matthew Kalinauskas
Design: Matthew Kalinauskas, Jess Rowden
Cel Animation: Matthew Kalinauskas, Jess Rowden
3D Modelling & Texturing: Chris Crozier
3D Lighting & Animation: Jimmy Gill
Compositing: Cam Sharpe
Audio: Grayson Music Group