Love this advert from Cinesite although it’s a year old it”s the first time I have seen it…start your day with a laugh !

Beans is the first animated short film to be made at Cinesite. It takes the form of a mock-commercial. We see this movie as a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the quality of Cinesite artists’ work.

The film was written and directed by animator Alvise Avati and produced by Cinesite’s Animation Director Eamonn Butler.

Alvise approached Cinesite with an idea for the film. He says, “Working in visual effects, it’s usually other people’s visions and creatures that you’re creating. This was an opportunity to take some creative control and make a film of our own.”

The look of the lunar environment is based on NASA film footage and actual lunar photography. Eamonn says, “At the start, the film is quite serious in tone and then it develops, becoming more dramatic as it progresses before ending on a surprise. To support this, the environment needed to be photo-realistic. We also wanted to push the animation and effects as far as we could to make the film as dramatic as possible before the payoff.

Eamonn says, “In terms of the creature design, we worked in a very collaborative way. Alvise brought some great artwork and ideas as starting points which we developed through modelling, rigging and animation. We brought on more talented artists as we went to help develop the look of the film through textures, lighting and compositing.”

Because the creature would be seen so briefly, it was important for him to stand out and be scary. Alvise says, “I wanted the creature’s eyes to glow. We also added bioluminescence effects to parts of his head to make him stand out.”

“Beans is Cinesite’s first in-house, content-creation project,” says Eamonn, “and I’m sure it won’t be our last. This has been an invaluable and fun way for us to show what we’re capable of.”