Big W | Santa Hands “Make a little Magic” (Christmas Campaign)

During my time at M&C Saatchi Sydney agency I was lucky enough to roll out all video and static assets for this fun and exciting campaign, about a boy who was cursed with a special power where everything he touches turns to Christmas… what a problem to have! The whole campaign has a magical and nostalgic feel which I tried to capture in the animation bringing 3d elements, live footage and particle effects together. The campaign was featured in Campaign Brief (link below) which lists the full credits (I was pleased to get a mention as the senior motion designer) and shows the full length TVC.

One of the biggest challenges was animating the opening scene where we have all the many various 3D Christmas objects flying out of the bauble at top speed then slowing down as they continue on their trajectory in 3D space. While the elements were created in Cinema 4D, the animation was done in After Effects. It was crucial here to ensure that the elements  continuously maintained a balanced layout across the screen while maximising visibility and recognition of each object at all times. To achieve this, each individual object’s trajectory, orientation, speed and rotation was controlled at high level while frame by frame for overall effect. This process needed to be done bespoke for every screen size, it really got me in the zone!

Campaign Brief: Big W - Santa Hands

[Asset Management / Design / Animation / Editing]
(Art Director: Tim Batterham. 3D elements created by the team at Res)