Flash
We were in pre-production and really excited about this project when the 2020 pandemic hit. Both us and our client Guide Dogs had to adjust to a new reality and a new way of working amidst some chaos and uncertainty. Despite the circumstances, Flash became our lockdown project and we managed to tell the story we set out to tell and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
To mark its 90th anniversary, sight loss charity Guide Dogs partnered with Studio Kimchi to create a three minute animated story about a puppy called Flash, named after one of the first guide dog puppies raised in the UK in 1931.
This sweet and colourful film follows a Labrador puppy called Flash and her puppy-raiser Annie as they go through Flash’s first year of training. We watch as Annie helps familiarise Flash with different environments, teaches basic obedience, and instructs Flash on how to ignore distractions like loud cars and lightning. It celebrates the work of volunteers that train puppies destined to become guide dogs, highlighting the challenges but also the rewards.
For this film we designed several characters, sets, props and vehicles, that were later modelled, textured and rigged in order to be used in the film. As for the animation, we went with a stylised CG animation style.
Apart from the main film, we delivered several other pieces, such as different cutdown edits with different lengths and focus, each of them in different aspect ratios, from horizontal to square to vertical.
Flash first premiered on ITV in the United Kingdom, and can now be seen online. Apart from the main film and its several different cutdowns and trailers and conventional audio description and accessible subtitle tracks, Studio Kimchi also created two audiobook versions of the film, created specifically for people with sight loss, and starring Gavin & Stacey actress Joanna Page as Flash.
Client
GUIDE DOGS
Animation Studio
STUDIO KIMCHI
Directed by
BRUNO SIMÕES
Written by
DAVID KILGO
RICHARD MATHER
Production Coordinator
ELISABETH CARRERA
Storyboard
JORGE RIBEIRO
Character Design
ESTRELA LOURENÇO
Set Design
SABINA SUAREZ
ESTHER VIDAL SOLER
Matte Painting
REGINA INSENSER
Model Sheets
LAURA PORTOLÉS
Set & Props Modeling
LUCIE PRIGENT
Textures
IGNAZIO ACERENZA
EVA DE PRADO
Grooming
GERARDO CASTELLANOS
Prop Rigging
DIANA ARAUJO
FX
WILLBERT ALVAREZ
Compositing
BRIAN MARTINEZ
Lighting
BRUNO SIMÕES
Sound Design
BRUNO OLIVEIRA
Music
AURÉLIEN VIEIRA LINO
Character Modeling & Rigging by
NU BOYANA PORTUGAL
Character Animation by
ROCKET FRAMES
© 2021 Guide Dogs / Studio Kimchi
