A fun and bright set of 3D GFX for the CBeebies show 'What's On Your Head?' created to engage & educate young children across the country.
The Brief
Production company Gold Wala, who specialize in producing content that reflects diverse talent and modern platforms, came to us with an idea for a bright and fun children’s TV show. The premise of the show is that it would help educate a broad audience on topics and careers that they may not usually have a chance to learn about in their daily lives. We worked closely with Gold Wala to develop a selection of different GFX such as a title sequence, character reactions and internal show wipes, transitions, and overlayed graphics. ‘What’s on Your Head?’ explores the things that men and women wear on their head or face in different cultures, jobs and sports around the world.
Our Response
Character Development
One of the large aims of the project with Gold Wala was to create a selection of animated characters that would bring the show to life and help to keep the children engaged throughout each episode. They burst onto the scene in the title sequence and pop up and react throughout the show to different things happening on screen. We went through multiple iterations of these characters, with some being very complicated, and others being far simpler. Through this extensive process, the characters went from early sketches and concepts in 2D to full 3D character design. This allowed us to give each character its own unique identity and looks. We all have a favourite character in the studio, who’s your favourite?
GFX
GFX, which stands for Graphic Effects, are visual animated elements that sit within an episode to do a variety of different things for us and the audience, as well as the look and feel of the show. This encompasses a wide variety of different assets such as wipes, lower thirds, and integrated motion elements like bursts and pops. All of these different elements seek to give life to the show and brand its identity, to subtly engage the viewer. The energetic GFX assets supported the show’s cohesion and helped it to cultivate a bold, unique identity.
Titles
The title sequence is one of the most important parts of a show in terms of animation and added elements. It sits at the start of the episode, sets up the tone and brings the audience into the show’s world. The title sequence we created for ‘What’s On Your Head?’ focused on our characters and their adventures together, having fun, interacting, and discovering what is on their heads. With music from the famous and talented Basement Jaxx for the title sequence, which our animation was synched to, we build the energy from the first moment the show appears. There are even videos we’ve been sent of relatives at the same age as the target audience, watching the show and singing along to the title sequence.
BBC iPlayer
One of our favourite things about this project is to see it alongside other great shows on the BBC iPlayer. We can see the wonderful 3D character design that went into the show, sitting pride of place and representing the identity of the programme.
The Result
The final show was a huge success and continues to educate and engage children all across the UK. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Gold Wala on the project and cannot wait for the next one! Season 2 anybody?
What our client Said
“Exceptional work and a fantastic team, The Animation Guys were a joy to collaborate with. They provided us a title sequence and related graphics for our Children’s TV show which has quickly become iconic. The understood our vision and worked collaboratively with our team to create a product that we were thrilled with. We can’t want to work with them again and you shouldn’t hesitate to book them!”
Faraz Osman
Gold Wala
