daylight saving time
an animated history for BBC iWonder
overview
We worked with BBC iWonder to create a two-minute animation explaining the fascinating history of Daylight Saving Time. Narrated by the enigmatic Stephen Fry, the film had to cover Daylight Saving Time’s origins in 18th Century Paris to its first practical use by Germany in World War One.
retro chic
Our quirky characters drew heavily on 1950s Cartoon Modern, UPA style animation to bring a feeling of a silly yesteryear.
time to colour
We gave each scene a particular colour palette to distinguish one time period and location from the next.
camera skills
Each scene transitions seemlessy into the next, keeping the energy up throughout and making for a slick experience.
will anyone notice?
We also managed to fit a CG satelite into the film! The subtle perspective shift as it flies towards camera gave that last drop of production value that we were looking for!
result
An elaborate ‘whistle stop’ tour of the history of Daylight Saving Time. This visually rich, fast-paced and informative film launched on the BBC iWonder website and was shared on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. It racked up almost 300,000 views on its first weekend and sparked furious debate about the relevance of Daylight Saving Time in the modern world.
