Studio AKA Get Ugly for “The Meth Project”

by SNP on February 3, 2012

Style frames usually strive to present the client’s story in the best possible light. But what does your pitch look like when the client wants to tell tragic, even horrific stories? The team at Studio AKA in London faced this question head on when asked to produce a series of TV spots aimed at keeping American teenagers from try methamphetamine.

Studio AKA producer Sharon Titmarsh and director Steve Small took time out of their hectic schedules to walk us through how they did it.

How did a London-based studio come to produce a campaign about troubled US teenagers?

The San Francisco agency Organic Inc. contacted us as they are long-time fans of our work and thought we would like to get involved in creating films for The Meth Project – an immersive and informative web site aimed at reducing first-time methamphetamine use.

Was the decision to use animation already in place when the agency came to you?

The Meth Project reaches out in particular to teenagers and so the brief was to make something that would engage this demographic. The agency was keen on using animation for the online work as they thought that with enough consideration the striking and unexpected nature of the films would catch the attention of young people more readily than live action could.

With that in mind, the idea was that the films should emulate the visual cues of graphic novels, sketchbooks and graffiti art – perhaps also work that could possibly have been done by the teenagers themselves. To that end the films had to be striking with lots going on, and have a very immediate impact.

The agency supplied us with a selection of testimonial VOs that consisted of harrowing stories told in the first person by young meth users. They told of their experiences of using meth and how it had subsequently affected their lives, and the lives of those around them.

Because each of the stories was based on an individual, it was important for us to create a different style/look for each of the six films to highlight the variety of their experiences. Although the initial idea was that each of the films would be made in monochrome, as the production progressed, some splashes of colour or ink washes were introduced for emphasis. Paramount to us was that the films did not overshadow the messages and the responsibility of adding images to the stories weighed heavily on us throughout.

What were the major creative challenges in bringing these gruesome tales to life?

We wanted to respond to the stories as individual statements, giving each its own signature in both design and in treatment. With such a strong voice over to anchor each film, it allowed us to explore many techniques and visual styles and we settled on each look in consultation with the agency and client.

As many of the events involve graphic images, it was important to demonstrate these in context, which often meant re-visiting these harsh moments. Re-enacting this in animation allows you to show things that in live action might seem intrusive or staged.

When you see a person imagining bugs in their arms and needing to cut a vein to let them out, animation helps to replay the event without inviting the audience to challenge its reality. It remains a recollection, a symbol of the event rather than trying to demonstrate the actual moment, but no less powerful.

What other stories or insights should STYLE FRAMES readers know about the project?

One of the key challenges was the sheer amount of work that we needed to produce within a very tight deadline, but we overcame this with the help of the studio crew who – augmented by the art-workers we brought in – worked together as a cohesive team to achieve great results. It undoubtedly helped that we all felt very privileged to be working for such a worthwhile cause. The stories were very affecting for everyone and we felt an obligation to give our best in return.