TOUCH CHARITY CAMPAIGN

Everyone Can Be Someone

Back To Front Co-Director, Aiden Whittam, was tasked with creating a short stop motion film that followed the story of a young Singaporean finding his true potential. Working with the charity organisation Touch Community Services and BBH Singapore, the handcrafted animation highlights that everyone has the power to make a difference and achieve greatness.

THE BRIEF

Touch Community Services is a not-for-profit charity organisation that works to create Singapore communities where everyone is valued and empowered. Over the years, they have been dedicated to helping people from many different backgrounds and based on this, the creative team at BBH Singapore approached with a simple concept, to emphasise the importance of helping and doing good within the community. They wanted to focus on a central character that enters into a community and is shown the impact of kindness and caring in a very animated way.

Character Design for Stopmotion Puppets: Touch Community Services Campaign Singapore
Stop Frame Charity Campaign Singapore: Puppet On Set Under Camera

OUR PROCESS

The production went through an extensive pre-production process to design the entire world and multiple characters that feature in the film. The puppets, sets and props were all carefully considered and designed so that they would feel familiar and authentic to the many communities within Singapore. There were ten puppets of varying complexity created for the film in total. The ‘hero’ character was designed with a full ball and socket armature, while other secondary characters had simple wire construction. Some duplicates of puppets where also made in large and small scales to create the effect of characters growing into ‘giants’.

"In a market where charities and non-profits typically create live action or documentary-based films that are heavy on the emotions, this was an opportunity to go lighter and brighter, through the use of animation and a bit of film magic to create a different kind of connection with audiences."
Khairul Mondzi
Group Creative Director, BBH Singapore.

THE RESULTS

The campaign film was released across social media featuring the Coldplay track ‘Fix You’. The film and the original characters also featured in the Touch Community Services branding and were part of an extensive stills photography campaign to support the charity's fundraising activities. The film and some behind-the-scenes content was featured in Campaign Brief Asia, Little Black Book, and Adobo Magazine. Khairul Mondzi, Group Creative Director, BBH Singapore, said: "The precise craft and delicate moulding (literally) of the film was very time-consuming, but well worth it in the end. The experience was akin to how TOUCH as a charity actually engages and involves individual; putting in time, effort and care into changing people’s lives and moulding everyone to become empowered and valued in society."

Puppet Stop Frame Singapore: Man with Grandmother Puppets

CREDITS

Client: Touch Community Services, Singapore
Agency: BBH Singapore
Executive Producer: Wendi Chong
Film Director: Aiden Whittam
Additional Model Making: Eve Bannister
2D Animation: Oscar Burgess
Audio Production: Fuse Adventures in Audio