RCM
Scroll DownElsie MacGill
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In this fun spot for the Royal Canadian Mint, we helped introduce the new $1 commemorative circulation coin celebrating the life and accomplishments of Elsie MacGill, the world’s first female aeronautical engineer.
In the 1940s, MacGill had been the subject of a comic book titled “Queen of the Hurricanes.”
Inspired by this book (and her awesome nickname), we set up to create a comic-book spread come-to-life. We pored over old and new comic book references to develop a look that would point to the past — halftone effect, paper textures, offset printing — while still feeling contemporary and fresh with a bit of gloss.
The challenge? With a fairly tight schedule to get a whole lot of story on screen, we knew we’d have to be strategic with our animation approach.
An augmented comic with some motion and parallax was our best way forward, with a spotlight on an important part of MacGill’s legacy: the Hawker Hurricane. We treated a 3D model in a way that it would blend into the otherwise 2D world, adding that extra little bit of magic the film needed.
We packed as many little Easter-egg details from MacGill’s life story as we could into the peripheral panels: the universities she graduated from, her dedication to girls’ education, and her influence on the generations that followed.
We’re pretty proud of this one. We hope the Queen of the Hurricanes would be, too.
Director: Matthew KalinauskasCreative Directors: Ron Gervais, Dave GreeneProduction Company: IAMSTATICExecutive Producer: Cathy JefferiesProducer: Nadine KalinauskasAnimation and Compositing: Jimmy Gill, Matthew Kalinauskas, Jessica Rowden, Cam SharpeDesign: Matthew Kalinauskas, Jessica Rowden3D Lighting / Animation: Jimmy Gill3D Modeling / Texturing: Chris CrozierMusic: Grayson MusicAgency: McCann CanadaClient: Royal Canadian Mint
