We jumped on board during the London based edit for this great series, Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League. We were working closely with co-director Richard Brown and Editor Andy Worboys, delivering over 25 animated sequences, typographical elements, and a very fun animated title sequence.
Graphics Reel: Title sequence, Maps, Social Media + News, League Tables
Our look development for the series was really a pleasure, looking for a bright, colourful but also textured aesthetic which mirrored the spirit of the game and the countries playing. This duality was an important consideration into realising the ethos of the designs – although the story of Basketball Africa League is grand, the heart of the show is the humble everyday lives of these players.
Title Sequence
The animation of the opening sequence required a strong understanding of the basketball court and its markings in order to create a coherent visual progression. We began by storyboarding using a top-down view of a basketball court, ensuring that the lines connected in believable and accurate positions. The idea was to gradually reveal what the audience was looking at through the movement of the lines.
From an animation perspective, everything was created in TVPaint using two layers. One layer was dedicated to the animated line work, and the second to the horizon, which moved according to the camera movement and the lens distortion we had imagined during the storyboard phase. The horizon was often curved and moved quickly to reflect the fast camera movements. As we were not using a real or 3D camera, everything had to be drawn manually with correct perspective in mind.
A key aspect was establishing an interesting rhythm in the animation, incorporating ease-ins and ease-outs in the camera movement, alongside sudden bursts of speed in the animated lines. Much of this came down to the spacing between keyframes, giving the animation a sharper, more dynamic snap.
In compositing, we added subtle camera movements such as slow push-ins and drifting motion to bring more life to the sequence. We also added texture to both the court and the lines. The line animation was duplicated twice and offset by a few frames. Each duplicate received a different treatment: one with a neon colour and sharp edge, and the other with a halftone texture and alternate colour. This gave the overall animation an added visual flavour, reminiscent of a comic book, as though the speed of the lines was revealing hidden graphic layers.
Finally, we introduced a sun element with a dancing dissolve texture and tracked it to the horizon. This helped define the final visual style and provided a stable visual anchor for the viewer’s eye within the shot.
Tournament Tables
Amidst the highlights of games, we illustrate each team’s progression through the tournament with a league bracket, followed by an elimination bracket for the quarter finals to finals. This is updated as the tournament progresses, allowing us to see the full scope of accomplishment as the winning team is crowned.
Maps
Our camera sweeps across Africa allowing us to showcase the vastness of the continent.
Zooming in on individual countries we celebrate their different cultures, languages and natural beauty. Giving the viewer a broader context to the environments which shaped these basketball stars.
Team Roster
Basketball Africa League has it’s own rules and ethos aimed at growing talent from the continent. It’s different to other basketball leagues so it was important to create an exciting graphic to explain how their teams are created, and how this ethos is implemented.
Social Media + News
We wanted to create the sense of community and interaction with our social media posts and news articles. Adding our colour and flair to the standard social media and news article aesthetic we embody the excitement of the fans and reporters conversing online about BAL, reinforced by animated illustrations to draw the eye to key words.
Titles and Motion Design: Past Curfew
Design Director: Allison Brownmoore
Creative Producer: Lucy Witts
Production Coordinators: Mark Hughes, Lucy Beavis
Lead Animator: Sylvain Doussa
Animators: Kevin Smy, Callum Welch
Designers: John Quinn, Aaron Diamond