Ernst & Young (EY), in partnership with their Greater China creative team, commissioned an animated e-Card to celebrate the 2024 Year of the Dragon. My task was to execute the motion graphics vision, creating a unique, culturally resonant animation intended for key client and employee distribution via email and platforms like WeChat.
Context
EY required a celebratory visual that was sophisticated, culturally authentic, and highly distinctive for the Year of the Dragon. The primary constraint was an extremely tight, five-day deadline for the entire process—from concept approval to final delivery—which was further compressed by delays in finalizing the two competing storyboard directions. The project demanded a solution that minimized risk and maximized production efficiency from the outset.
Date Completed:
Feb 2024
Role:
Animator
Involvement:
Animation Execution, Art Rigging, Technical Documentation (Handover Guide)
Overview
The creative direction was anchored in the ancient art form of Chinese shadow puppetry, using bold silhouettes, fluid movement, and negative space to animate the dragon. The strategic priority was to adopt an agile production approach to mitigate the risk of the delayed storyboard decision. This meant front-loading the technical preparation—researching plugins and beginning the complex art rigging—to ensure I could pivot instantly once the final creative direction was locked in.
Challenge
The project was uniquely challenging due to the severe time compression and the ambiguity of the creative brief. The tight five-day window was already demanding, but the delay in storyboard selection meant animation could not begin immediately. This required a flexible approach to production, where essential technical steps had to be started before final approval was granted to save crucial animation time on the back end.
Solution
I initiated the project with a proactive, technical focus. In the first two days, I researched After Effects plugins for optimized animation and completed the crucial rigging process, meticulously separating the dragon artwork into individual layers for fluid motion . This preparatory work provided a significant advantage when the first storyboard was finally approved, allowing me to dedicate the remaining three days entirely to animation. The final output included a comprehensive PDF guide detailing the project structure and required plugins, ensuring a smooth handover for any future revisions by the EY team.
Results
The project was delivered successfully and on time, meeting all requirements for both Simplified and Traditional Chinese language variations. The creative team at EY expressed exceptional satisfaction with the final e-Card, specifically highlighting the high quality of the animation and the dynamic shadow puppetry style. The success of this agile execution has set a new, higher standard for motion graphics projects within the EY team, validating the proactive, flexible approach to high-stakes corporate communications.
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