9,600 attendees present at the 10th annual Google’s I/O developers’ conference enthusiastically embraced a brilliant vision. The festival participants, plus a live-stream audience of 1.85 million viewers worldwide, were carried into a fascinating world imagined by Nexus Studio’s director Fx Goby who introduced it through a short animated video titled “The Story of an Idea.”
The dazzling story created by the London-based director takes viewers into a fantasy place where, under the light of bright, colorful, and glowing reflectors, two unexpected characters keep everyone’s attention and fuel our imagination from the first second of the film until its grand finale.
The 4.5-minute-long animation unveils how an idea can turn into something majestic just by receiving the kind of attention it really needs. The creative concept presents various development stages of animation techniques along the flourishing evolution of both characters.
Outlined by a hand-drawn black lines on a white background, we get to know Aye, a whimsical character that comes across an egg-like creature named Idea, who sticks with Aye and follows him down his path. Together, they embark on a marvelous journey, during which Aye nourishes Idea until it reaches maturity and can shine on its own and become an inspiration to others. All the while, illustrations burst into colors as Idea evolves and blooms into something stellar.
The action’s background transitions from 2D images to CGI visual effects , whereas the 3D visuals harmoniously conclude the captivating story. A full soundtrack in surround sound perfectly blends with the movie’s plot, and brings the visual impact to an even more sophisticated level.
In order to enchant viewership’s sight with a vivid story, Goby worked with over 40 artists from Nexus. Together, they meticulously planned a fairy tale-like story which captures and reflects the evolution of animation.
Goby said that the whole creation process “felt like all planets were aligned,” continuing his statement by reflecting how Google really supported the team. He also added that this was “the most challenging and smooth-running project [he] had the chance to work on.”
Nick Summers of Engadget congratulated the initiative and concluded that: “Every press conference should start with an adorable animation like this.”
The award-winning director traveled all the way down to the other side of the world, to Australia, to meet the creatives at Mighty Nice studio. Together, they crafted a colorful madness that simply conquered the big stage of famous Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.
The film’s ‘making-of’ invites you to catch a glimpse of artists’ activity hidden behind the remarkable concept. “What will your idea become?” Let us know in the comments if you ever wondered how far you can push your thoughts:
Credits:
Directed by: Fx Goby
Commissioner: Google
Creative Directors: Tom Manion & Jack Colley
Events & Experiences Lead: Amanda Matuk
Events & Experiences Producers: Megan Hardy & Karen Morris
Production Company: Nexus Studios
Executive Creative Director: Chris O’Reilly
Executive Producer: Luke Youngman
Producer: Fernanda Garcia Lopez
Production Managers: Rebecca Archer, Derek Walsh
Art Director: Bjorn-Erik Aschim
Design Team: James Castillo, Maxime Dupuy, Callum Strachan
Matte Painting: James Castillo, Maxime Dupuy, Mike Shorten
Storyboard: Gervais Merryweather
CG Supervisor: Michal Firkowski & Christian Johnson
3D Animation: Dominic Griffin, William Lorton, Thibaud Clergue, Fabrice Fiteni, Aziz Kocanaogullari, Inès Pagniez, Conor Ryan
Modelling: Amy Ash, Florent Rousseau, Fabien Glasse,
Rigging: Gaetan Borde, Ludovic Habas, Mark Tsang
Texturing: Eva de Prado, Clementine Frere
Compositing: Kenneth Hau (Lead), Marco Baratto, Valentin Panisset, Dalvir Matharu, Antoine Foulot, Raphael Theolade, Chieka Ononye
VFX: Hugh Johnson, Zoubein Rana, Eaton Crous,
Lighting and Rendering: Dorianne Fiblueil (Lead), Corentine Charron, Benoit Berthe, Carl Kenyon, Sophie Blayrat, Arkin Esref
Editorial: David Slade, James Alexander McCaughan
Render Wrangler: Pierre Clenet
2D Animation
Production Company: Mighty Nice
ECD: Darren Price
Executive Producer: Jackie Archer
Producer: Tina Braham
Production Coordinator: Diana Angelius
Animators: Bonnie Taylor Forsyth, Richard Chhoa, Victoria Dinh, Tessa Eden, Duncan MacLaren
Sound Design & Mix: JM Finch @ Fonic
Music: Alright Alright Alright by Mungo Jerry
Voice Actors: Charlie Hayes, Jonathan Rhodes, Nigel Pilkington