7/5/18
‘Audience of the Future’ Demonstrator Programme launched
How did the consortium first form?
Founding partners, Lee and Susan Cummings recollect the early bid development process.
Susan and Lee Cummings from Tiny Rebel Games (TRG), are visiting fellows of USW Games. Our collaboration grew from there.
September 2018
Fictioneers founding partners travel to London to pitch their bid in person to Innovate UK.
The Audience of the Future Demonstrator Challenge was designed to develop digital storytelling capacity within the UK.
Creative media producers were asked to join forces and collaborate across different group to create an entertainment experience that was inventive, immersive and appealing.
To enable this the creative R&D teams were encouraged to work with an established IP, or intellectual property identity, such as a popular media identity, or brand.
For Wallace & Gromit: Big Fix Up, Fictioneers collaborated with Aardman animations limited – and the University of South Wales.
October 2018
Award winners notified.
January 2019
ONBOARDING:
Fictioneers employ core staff and research potential licensors/IP partners.
First exploratory design sprints held at Arcade Vaults in Cardiff. Topics include company mission and name, possible shape of project (e.g. At this time the decision was made to prioritise AR versus VR), potential audience profiles and design priorities.
April 2019
How did the consortium first form?
Wallace & Gromit: Big Fix Up is the first time that Aardman Animations Ltd have co-produced a Wallace and Gromit story. It’s also the first time that they’ve tackled an interactive project at such scale, involving so many different media in the one application:
“I've always thought the most interesting part of this project is weaving all those different types of media together and how you tell a story across all those different things. Because, you know, it is a different type of storytelling. And it's not a type of storytelling we've done before…. this is our first augmented reality and mixed reality, big story really.”
George Rowe head of Aardman’s Interactive Division.
About Aardman
Aardman, based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is an independent and multi-award-winning studio. It produces feature films, series, advertising, games and interactive entertainment - such as the ‘visually astonishing’ (Guardian), BAFTA® nominated console game, 11-11: Memories Retold, and the four-times Gold Cannes Lions-winning StorySign app - and innovative attractions for both the domestic and international market, including a new 4D theatre attraction at Efteling in the Netherlands.
Its productions are global in appeal, novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm reflecting the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the Aardman team. The studio’s work – which includes the creation of much-loved characters including Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph – is often imitated, and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning content for cinema, broadcasters, digital platforms and live experiences around the world.
The studio runs the Aardman Academy to nurture talent and strengthen ties between the animation industry and education. The Aardman Academy offers a variety of courses from intensive one-day workshops teaching production skills and storyboarding, to comprehensive twelve-week courses for professionals in craft based subjects from model making to animation.
About Wallace & Gromit
Wallace and Gromit, Aardman’s most loved and iconic duo have been delighting family audiences around the world for over 30 years. First hitting our screens in Nick Park’s Academy Award®-winning ‘Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out’ (1989) the pair went on to star in three further half hour specials (Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993), Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995)
Wallace & Gromit: Big Fix Up is the first time that Aardman Animations Ltd. have co-produced a Wallace and Gromit story. It’s also the first time that they’ve tackled an interactive project at such scale, involving so many different media in the one application:
Audio - USW's role in project
The University of South Wales has been named among the top 20 educational institutions in the world for 3D Animation and Games Design & Development and has also been ranked amongst the world’s top 50 schools for Creative Media & Entertainment by the industry-endorsed online organisation, The Rookies.
The University team included Principal Investigator Corrado Morgana, Co-investigators Richard Hurford and Ruth McElroy, plus Research Fellows Helen Davies, Bronwin Patrickson and James Rendell.
