Camp Bestival 2012 closes in style

Brighton-based animation and design studio Persistent Peril captivated crowds at Camp Bestival this year with an epic 16-minute closing animation, projected onto the walls of Lulworth Castle, at the festival’s Dorset venue.

Briefed to accompany a spectacular fireworks finale, Persistent Peril worked with a talented crop of creatives to close the festival in style. The resulting film features a colourful cast of animal-based characters participating in various sporting pursuits to coincide with Camp Bestival’s theme of ‘Silly Olympics’.

"It was a hugely collaborative project,” says Persistent Peril co-founder Garth Jones. “We worked alongside Kate Genevieve (Chroma Collective), Mark Scarratt (Brighton Art) and Richard Cranmer (Two Tiger Fireworks). Together we fleshed out the ideas and played between the different elements.”

The first step was to design a cast of characters, and match each character to a sport: “We wanted to be playful with the pairing, not always choosing the obvious match,” says Persistent Peril’s Ginny Jones. “Kate then worked with Richard and Jeffers Mayo, the sound editor, on the music to create an emotional journey through the finale.”

From each song edit Persistent Peril created a rough animatic, working alongside freelancers Emma Wakley and Mark Billington to animate each scene in Flash, before adding 3D flourishes and finally composting in After Effects.

“Mark set up a miniature castle in his studio to demonstrate how the projection mapping process would affect the animation from warping, viewing angles and shadows,” adds Garth Jones.

“The entire team was blown away when the show came together on the last night,” says Ginny Jones. “The fireworks and projection added so much. We were so nervous before it started, as the crowd started to gather around us, but the audience was fantastic, cheering and dancing. It was truly amazing.”

Persistent Peril is an independent animation specialising in character-driven animation. The three-person team was formed in 2011 by husband and wife Garth and Ginny Jones, and producer Sam Bourner. The studio’s work has been screened worldwide at Pictoplasma, One Dot Zero, New York International Children's Film Festival and many more. Check out more of their work at the Persistent Peril website.