This film features an in-camera stop-frame animation telling the story of how Greene King created their new range of craft beers. Each frame of the animation is made from light projected onto a wall from inside a laser-cut beer can. The idea behind the new beers is that they are the perfect blend of old and new. 200 years of brewing history combined with the best modern techniques and ingredients. We wanted our film to also embody the best of old and new. So we combined a traditional illustrative style inspired by medieval woodcuts with a modern animation technique that involved laser cutting our designs into aluminium sheets and projecting them on a wall from inside 350 beer cans. Like the story was bursting out from inside the beers themselves. The combination of old and new was followed through in the music, which combines classical instrumentation with modern beats.

We were briefed to launch Greene King’s new range of craft beers, which combine 200 years of history and brewing knowhow with modern techniques, ingredients and flavours. This led to the idea of combining old and new in our film. The audience was primarily beer drinkers, aged 30-50 who love craft beer. To reach this audience we needed to challenge perceptions of Greene King as being old fashioned and turn their brewing history into a strength by combining their expertise with a more contemporary, craft-driven side.

Our aim was to create an animation that combined old and new. So we developed a unique stop frame technique that combined 350 laser-cut beer cans, medieval woodcuts and a technique called “Anamorphosis”. Every frame was planned in 2D using CGI and custom algorithms, then cut into aluminium sheets. These were rolled and lit from inside with an LED rotating on a motor, that had to be sub-millimeter precise to avoid distortions. Over 11 shoot days, we captured each frame in camera making sure the exposure, lighting and angles were perfect. Then stitched them together to create the final film.