creative pitch

PFW
PRIME FOCUS WORLD
CREATIVE PITCH
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BARBIE: PRIME FOCUS WORLD’S CREATIVE PITCH
Welcome to our Creative Pitch for Barbie!
On page 3, you’ll be able find Barbie: She’s Got The Look – A History of The Animated Films.
This is our investigation into – and analysis of – the essential (and ever-evolving) visual elements which have contributed to the success of the Barbie Animated Film formula, over the past thirteen years.
And on page 13, you’ll find Barbie: The Future With Prime Focus World.
Here’s where we’ve taken everything we’ve learnt from our historical analysis, and worked out exactly how Prime Focus World can continue to finesse and improve upon the Barbie Animated Films – if given the
opportunity!
We genuinely believe at Prime Focus World that we can make the next series of Barbie Animated Films even more colorful and beautiful to look at than the last; and help create a new generation of Barbie characters
who are even more lovable and easy to emphasize with. In other words, make the Barbie Animated Films bigger and better than ever before!
We hope, on reading this document, that you’ll agree with us!
Many thanks
Prime Focus World Animation Team
PRIME FOCUS WORLD ANIMATION
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BARBIE: SHE’S GOT THE LOOK
A HISTORY OF THE ANIMATED FILMS
BARBIE: LIVING DOLL
In the Barbie Animated Films, the famous doll – beloved by generations of children – has been transformed into a living, breathing human being.
This Barbie (to paraphrase Pinocchio!) is very much a real girl. There are none of the deliberately doll-like movements of Toy Story 3 here!
This is a Barbie of believable movement and emotions. A Barbie we can believe in and share feelings with. And whom children can feel genuine love and affection for, just as they do with their dolls.
BARBIE: VITAL INGREDIENTS
Throughout the history of the Barbie Animated Films, there’s been a push to make Barbie even more real and believable… whilst at the same time making the stories she appears in more dynamic and involving. And
exciting for kids!
Featured on the next few pages are some of the constantly evolving ‘vital ingredients’/elements which have contributed to the successful Barbie film formula.
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‘HAIROGRAPHY’
Glee devoted a whole episode to the concept of ‘Hairography’ and in the world of Barbie, hair (and its movement and applications) is just as important. More so – as any kid with a Barbie doll and a toy hairbrush can
tell you!
With Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001), the hair was fairly basic: fixed geometry with a little texture. By Barbie and the Diamond Castle (2008), we were seeing more texture and specular shine. And by Barbie: Princess
Charm School (2011), secondary dynamics had been added to the geometry – giving the characters’ hair a glossy and lustrous appearance.
Barbie in the Nutcracker - 2001
Delancy in Barbie: Princess Charm School - 2011
Princess Blair in Barbie: Princess Charm School - 2011
Stacie in Barbie and the Diamond Castle - 2008
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TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’
Princesses, Popstars, Fairies, Fairy-tale characters, Mermaids, Muskateers… and (let’s not forget) Modern-day girls!
Barbie and her friends come in many guises in the films, just as the toys in the shops do. The Film Series has shown an ongoing adventurousness in experimenting with different genres, locations, eras and sourcematerial … from E. T. A. Hoffmann to Hans Christian Andersen.
The film series’ Costumes and Sets have reflected that, always changing and updating – and rarely repeating themselves.
Sets in the first few films were fairly simple and undetailed, but by the time we got to Barbie as the Island Princess (2007) we were seeing more environments with more detail - especially with the jungle foliage in
this film. By Barbie: Mariposa and the Fairy Princess (2013), the sets were clean and stylized – perfectly fitting for the World of Barbie!
Likewise, with the Costumes we’ve seen a clear progression… with rudimentary cloth simulations introduced in Barbie: Princess Charm School.
Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus - 2005
Barbie: Princess Charm School - 2011
Barbie: Mariposa and her Butterfly Fairy Friends – 2008
Barbie: Mariposa and her Butterfly Fairy Friends – 2008
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FACE TIME
There’s plenty of excitement and action in the Barbie Animated Films. But, at heart, these are stories for the heart… with the focus on our heroines making tough choices, dealing with difficult emotions and learning
to communicate meaningfully with one another.
Consequently, bringing the faces of these toy-based characters to life (by adding emotional expressiveness) has been incredibly important throughout the series. The facial animation was limited in the first few
films. But by the time of Barbie and the Three Musketeers (2009), there were more sophisticated facial expressions with some comedy integration. The characters’ eyes had more detail and lighting too.
By the most recent films (e.g. Barbie: Princess Charm School), we’ve seen improved skin shaders, more humor in the performances and cleaner lighting of the characters (and environments and props too).
Barbie in the Nutcracker - 2001
Barbie as Rapunzel - 2002
Barbie of Swan Lake - 2003
Barbie: Mariposa and her Butterfly
Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar
Fairy Friends – 2008
- 2012
Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 - 2012
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CHANGING FACES
OF BARBIE
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CHANGING FACES
OF BARBIE
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PRIME FOCUS WORLD ANIMATION
CHANGING FACES
OF BARBIE
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KEEP ON MOVIN’
The first Barbie Animated Film was of course based on one of the world’s most famous ballets (The Nutcracker). And finely choreographed, graceful movement (rather than comedic doll-like jerkiness) has remained
a constant aspiration in the Barbie Animated Films – not just in the dance scenes, but whenever we see the characters in motion.
We’ve seen realistic movement pushed further in films like Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar (2012) – with its effective mix of motion capture and animated motion (a clear step up from the earlier dependency
on just motion capture). By Barbie: Princess Charm School, the dancing was getting increasingly slick and fluid – to match the overall rise in production values. And by Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2011) the action was
becoming better choreographed and, to compliment this, the action cam was being tightened up and made more dynamic.
Barbie in the Nutcracker - 2001
Barbie: Mariposa and her Butterfly Fairy Friends – 2008
Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar - 2012
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SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE
If you were to ask a typical viewer to use one word to describe the look of Barbie, it might be ‘colorful’! The Barbie Universe has always been defined by its bright, glossy, shiny aesthetic. It’s this kind of colorfulness,
after all, which kids respond to.
Obviously, all the films (and their props, locations and characters) have been defined by a carefully chosen ‘Barbie-friendly’ palette. Beyond this, we’ve seen a move away from the straightforward ‘flat’ Lighting of
surfaces (in the early films) to more sophisticated techniques, including directional lighting (see Barbie and the Three Musketeers), rim lighting and diffuse glow (see 2008’s Barbie in A Christmas Carol).
Adding to the magical ‘sparkle’ of the films have been appropriate sparkle FX (again, Barbie and the Three Musketeers offers good examples of this).
Barbie and the Three Musketeers - 2009
Barbie and the Three Musketeers - 2009
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ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
If the idea of making Barbie and her friends appear more real (and less doll-like) in the films has been pretty much a constant, the way these characters have otherwise been physically presented has often changed.
Depending on the requirements of the story and production design, we’ve seen Barbies and other characters with larger eyes (e.g. 2010’s Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale), or other departures away from the literal
representation of the traditional Barbie shape (e.g. 2010’s Barbie in A Mermaid Tale).
So flexibility has been the key, in terms of the look development of the characters’ physiques. This has been true of the BG characters as well: sometimes they’ve been stylized (2009’s Barbie Thumbelina); other times
they’ve been perfectly normal-looking (e.g. 2004’s Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper).
And let’s not forget the Animals… The style and animation of these has become more polished. But one thing has never changed – their comedic value and cuteness!
Barbie Thumbelina - 2009
Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 - 2012
Barbie and the Three Musketeers - 2009
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BARBIE: THE FUTURE WITH
PRIME FOCUS WORLD
For our vision of the future Barbie, the style established in the films will be refined and improved upon – bringing it bang up to date for modern audiences. For the most part, Barbie has evolved into a high production
value entertainment. We’ll maintain this and help raise the bar even higher.
With Barbie’s animation, we’ll follow on from – and build upon – the work in Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar and Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess. In our opinion, the mix of Motion Capture and Animation is
well presented in these films and is absolutely the correct route to follow. In particular, the subtle animation in the face and hands (which in previous films had been rather neglected) is the right precedent to follow.
We would aim not only to carry on this technique, but to enhance the fluidity, smoothing out what remains of the jerky Motion Capture.
Barbie’s look is very dependant on lighting. We would further enhance this work utilizing the latest in render pipeline technology. Some of the most memorable shots in films over the last few years have had
exceptional and dramatic lighting. More use of directional lighting and magic hour lighting will be incorporated. Our extensive lighting and comp experience and large division of artists are perfectly placed to give
Barbie the subtle glows and beauty work necessary to bring out our heroine’s best features.
Barbie’s eyes will also get the Hollywood treatment. As with everything else, her eyes have evolved over time but still do not quite have the sparkling, wet look expected by sophisticated modern day audiences. We
have attached a mood board solely dedicated to eyes and aim to bring the sparkle and shine more in line with modern expectations.
Barbie’s skin has had some dramatic changes over time too. Beginning life with a very plastic and toy-like appearance, to skin which is presented much more subtly. It would be our goal to incorporate the latest
advancements in Sub Surface Shading to give the skin the glow and softness expected in modern CG renders.
We particularly like the landscape evolution throughout the films and would aim to continue this aesthetic through the use of composed art directed landscapes. We would keep simple but elegant foliage. You could
expect to see topiaried landscapes and beautiful lighting throughout the films!
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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we are extremely well positioned to lift Barbie into the next level of evolution and to partner with Mattel for the continued creation of a very distinct Barbie language. This will help us achieve – and
improve upon – all the elements of the magic Barbie formula highlighted in the previous pages: the emotional expressiveness of the characters’ faces; the elegant movement; the colorful, shiny and - ever evolving –
environments; the use of directional lighting to add to the colorfulness; the increasingly realistic rendering of hair and cloth; the changing presentations of the characters to suit the stories. In other words, all of the
factors which have helped make the modern Barbie and friends of the Animated Films so watchable, easy to care about – and beloved of children around the world.
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MOOD BOARD ENVIRONMENTS
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MOOD BOARD EYES
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MOOD BOARD LIGHTING
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MOOD BOARD SKIN SHADER
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AND FINALLY...
We really hope you’ll give us the opportunity to build on our thoughts featured in the previous pages and work with you on Barbie. We’re raring to go – and are just finishing up on the third season of a major CG
Animated Series (for another world-famous toy manufacturer). And we’ve also just begun production on the first of several CG DVD Films, which share certain similarities with Barbie in terms of the animation and
audience expectations. We strongly believe this track record stands us in extremely good stead to work with you on the Barbie Films in the future.
So, in other words, please give us a go!
Yours faithfully
Prime Focus World Animation