Spark Media Video Production Agency
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2022
CLIENT
We were commissioned by host broadcaster Sunset+Vine to produce the opening & closing title sequences for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022‘s international coverage. We are excited to share that the video won a Royal Television Society award for Best Animation!
A combination of live action and animation, the video showcases some of our city’s most iconic locations, blending fast paced colourful character animation that encapsulates the excitement and emotion the games have brought to Birmingham.
From diving into a Birmingham canal to using the Bullring bull as a pommel horse, we creatively intertwined a diverse array of sports with well known areas across Birmingham, creating the impression that sport and community is everywhere, that it’s part of the heart of our city. Each of the characters were chosen to represent the varied diversity of this great city.
The titles were produced using traditional frame by frame animation at 12 fps. The characters and animated flourishes were tracked and overlaid on live action footage. Some of the scenes were initially blocked out using 3D shapes to work out the correct perspective. These were then replaced by the hand drawn characters. A colour grade with high shadow definition and saturation was added to the final film to help blend the live action and animation together and to give the film an anime feel to it.
The bespoke soundtrack was created by music production company, and long-time collaborators, Muchas Music.
As proud Brummies, we were incredibly excited to work on this project and show off our city as it was broadcast around the world. The titles were shown on BBC iPlayer and across all international broadcasters that broadcast the games, seen by millions of people around the world.
