Bulldozers destroy bushland paradise in new Greenpeace campaign via Photoplay’s Dropbear
Environmental organisation Greenpeace has collaborated with Dropbear – production company Photoplay’s director – to release a haunting animated campaign that exposes the realities of deforestation on the Australian environment.
The ‘Fight For Our Forests’ campaign uses a feature that film leverages “3D printed, hand-crafted, stop-motion animation” to transport viewers into a rich bushland, teeming with local flora and fauna.
Focusing on a koala and its joey, the idyllic scenes are quickly interrupted by bulldozers arriving in the night to level trees and drive away animals, transforming what was once an Australian Eden into a logged wasteland.
Despite the team working to a short schedule, they were able to bring the campaign to life by “a replacement animation technique”. In other words, Drop 3D animator, Duncan MacDonald, crafted the film’s characters with CGI. Next, after the film’s sequences were given the thumbs up, “each frame was 3D printed and hand painted”. Stop motion animation was then utilised for all 3D printed models, as each one “represented an individual frame of animation”.
Altogether, the film leverages 77 3D models, each printed individually.
For the sets, the production team used several techniques – “traditional model making techniques”, special effects and lighting states – to develop them. The film was shot by Photoplay cinematographer Cesar Salmeron, who used a probe lens to create scale and depth to generate a wholly immersive experience.
The decision to use animation for the campaign rather than develop it in live action was carefully chosen to play upon the viewer’s emotions. Ultimately, the film’s intention is to forge “a deeper emotional connection with audiences”, and give the visuals a sense of nostalgia.
“For a craft director, this project ticked many boxes and I’m very proud of the visuals that were created in such a short amount of time,” Dropbear answered when asked about the project.
“The production values of this film are extremely high and I’m so thankful for all the crafts people and artists who contributed to the production to make my vision a reality.
“I’m also very grateful to the team at Greenpeace for trusting me with their campaign and giving me the creative freedom to make something that I hope motivates and engages audiences to take action to protect our natural heritage.”
Greenpeace is no stranger to championing for environmental wellbeing through campaigns. In early October, 2023, the company launched a platform to draw attention to the dangers of seismic blasting on Western Australian whales.
Campaign Credits:
Client: Greenpeace
Creative producer (Greenpeace): Bianca Vitale
Production Company: Photoplay
Executive producer: Oliver Lawrance
Director: Dropbear
Cinematographer: Cesar Salmeron
Music & Sound Post: Sonar Music
Original Composition: Jackson Milas
Sound Design: Andy Stewart
Additional SFX Editing: Joel Dias
3D Animator: Duncan Macdonald
3D Printer: Bob K Shea
Set Builders: Seamus Spilsbury & Peter Hanrahan
Model Painters: Peter Hanrahan & Jonathan Chong
Stop Motion Animation: Jonathan Chong & Cesar Salmeron
Post Production: Dropbear Digital
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Matthew is the editorial assistant at Mumbrella. He joined the company at the end of September 2023.
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