Pitch Perfect: Researching Competition

With the group set up and our focus settled, I thought it was a good idea to begin researching other animation studios that also had a focus on narrative driven animation to gain inspiration as to how we should approach the field as a company. I wanted to find out how other animation companies, both large and small, made themselves unique from one another and how they presented themselves to their clients.

Golden Wolf
Golden Wolf was the first animation company that I thought of when I thought of the words fun and creative. I really like the way this studio creates a variety of unique, interesting and engaging animations for their clients and it is something that I feel, as a company, Lauren, Joe, Ciara and I would also strive for,

Golden Wolf selection of work

Ethos

Golden Wolf work for a variety of clients, from musicians to big name companies such as Nike. They have a very broad range of animation techniques under their belts, however, these don't stray from the overall aesthetic and tone of the company. Rather than focusing upon a certain element within animation, such as narrative driven animation for instance, they take on a range of projects and use animation as the tool to achieve their goals. Having said this, their work is predominantly 2D animation, yet they do branch out to 3D if it suites their ideas and solutions.

Blue Zoo

Blue Zoo is a London based animation company that predominantly works in 3D, however they focus upon character and narrative driven animations. They strive to make quirky, fun and lively characters and have won multiple awards for their work. 

Ethos

Blue Zoo work on a variety of different character led projects, from long form children's TV series to animated shorts and apps taking the idea all the way through to a finished outcome. 

Kilogramme

Kilogramme is a 2D and 3D animation company based in Manchester that work with their clients from 'initial ideas and concepts, right the way through to the finished product'. 

Ethos

Studio AKA

Studio AKA are an award winning independent London based animation studio and production company. They are a large company who are known internationally for their work on a number of projects that range in style, focus and technique. 

The company engages in a number of animation techniques rather than limiting themselves to any one in particular, and I found this quite strange, as the previous companies I have looked at so far seem to have had one technique as their focus with the capability to branch out. However, being a large company may provide them with more of an opportunity to branch out, as they have the numbers to do so, but as a small company, I feel that this is something the others and I should avoid for the time being. 

Distant Future Animation Studio

Distant Future is a specialist 2D and 3D animation company with a definite 'emphasis on creative'. They strive to make innovative and unique animations for a range of clients and purposes. 

Wonky Films

Wonky Films is a full-service, high end animation studio that specialises in 2D character animation. They work on a wide range of projects for both TV and mobile. 

Martin Agency

Martin Agency is a large company that creates a range of work that leans more towards advertising. I decided to look at this company because of their Wonderfilled campaign they did for Oreo. I really enjoyed this advertisement and felt that this was something that our company would strive to achieve if we were to create something for advertisement. 

Adam&EveDDB

Adam&EveDDB are responsible for creating the The Bear and The Hare Christmas advertisement for John Lewis. This is an animation that I admire and love to watch, so it was only natural that I sourced out who created it. 

They focus primarily on working for clients who are interested in commercial work but have created a few pieces for charity, and although some of their work in animation based, they also create illustrative work and the majority of their video work is live action. 

Sun and Moon Studios

This is a high-end 2D and 3D animation studio based in Bristol. Although the founders of the company were originally focused on 2D traditional animation, the company has since branched out and uses a range of 2D and 3D techniques to create animations that focus on character. 

Although the company was only formed in 2008, they have already worked for big name clients such as the BBC, E4 and Aardman. 

Brown Bag Films

Brown Bag Films is an Irish animation company that appears to create work predominantly aimed at children and have worked with some of the world's biggest entertainment names such as Disney, BBC, Nickelodeon and more. 

From what I have seen, it is clear that the majority of animation studios usually adopt a specialist method and use this method on a range of projects from animation shorts, children's animation and film to TV commercials and info-graphics. Having said this, this seems to apply mostly to the smaller studios, as larger studios tend to branch out with different techniques and have a wider range of methods to showcase. This has reassured me that, as a small company, we should attempt to focus our method and apply it to a variety of different briefs. 

In terms of how the studios present themselves online, I found that some of the studios web layout was a little confusing and I noticed that some looked less professional than others. For instance, I am not a huge fan of Studio AKA's website, as I felt that there was too much going on all in one place. Golden Wolf on the other hand, I feel, have a very professional, user friendly webpage that links in with the tone and aesthetic of the company and the work they produce. They also have a very strong online presence, which all links together nicely. I feel that this is something we should aim to achieve as a company, as this will make our brand stronger and easily recognisable.