Based on the world of The Night Circus novel, by Erin Morgenstern, I wanted to explore common formats of adverts, and the techniques used.
Maybe not the most conventional way to go about it, but I think the constantly moving camera and morphing that feature regularly within adverts would mesh quite well with the magical universe of the Night Circus. personally, I can’t help but believe it was a match made in heaven!
The book itself already had quite a defined visual style, to which I chose to also then include inspiration from the works of Lotte Reiniger, who I had researched the work of previously for an essay. Her detailed and delicate looking silhouette animations would also match quite well with the more simple animations that tended to feature in adverts, where the characters would only complete one single movement before shifting into something else entirely.
I wanted to make sure I included prominent scenes and aspects of the world within the advert – such as the illusionist transforming her cloak into flock of birds, the wishing tree covered in candles, and the cauldron of white fire that was lit on the first day of the circus.
And from that, the first beat boards were born.
A few changes were made on the way from this point – such as the water damage section near the end. The world of the Night Circus is set in the victorian era, and I wanted to make sure that my advert looked like it could have come from there. You know… if animated adverts were a thing that had existed then…
I don’t think I’ll ever animate this, but If I were, I would want to use a mix of 2D rigged puppets, and more traditional frame to frame animation for the morphs. the rigged animation would also serve to more accurately reflect the style of the silhouette animation I was inspired by.
The 2D puppet for rigging.