City Limits
A Retro-Futuristic animated venture
Set in a near-future age just down the road from our own, "City Limits" is a visually unique 2D animation on live-action production which blends, remixes, and reimagines sci-fi, pop, 1980s futurism, urban fantasy, and gritty realism to deliver a new animated series for our tech-driven times.
In the series we follow Clay, a British teenage cyborg courier who dreams of escaping a city that's become hostile towards young cyborgs like himself known as Cyber Yoots.
2D Characters on Live Action
Clay, like many Cyber Yoots across the globe, believes upgrading himself with the latest cyber-wear will be the answer to all his problems. But the more android he becomes, the more of a plug-in commodity he is for the mega cyber-wear brand and entertainment giant Channel 22.
Real World | Urban Fantasy
Proud and defined by his cyber-self Clay however is yet to discover this truth. And when he does, whether he has the courage to save himself, and other Cyber Yoots worldwide remains to be seen. Citywide mavericks, underground channels, and marvellous misadventures will help him along the way.
CHXXII Cyberwear
x Cyber Yoot Campaigns
Each defining what it means to be human in a cybernetic, digital world.
More importantly, each defining for Clay, youths and fellow Cyber Yoots everywhere what it means to be young, dumb and daring in any age or future to come. Breaking through the city limits.
The Production 01
2D Animation x Live Action 5 minute Teaser
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The Story
Title: City Limits - Unboxed.
London UK, turn of the 21st Century. And for those who dare to walk in his shoes Clay, a teenage cyborg courier, hailed as the 'New Face of the Future' has a cautionary tale to tell, where fame and misfortune come wrapped in the same shoebox.
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Real Engine
Why Unreal Engine?
City Limits: Unboxed focuses heavily on the fluid movement of our main 2D character, Clay, within a realistic and recognisably real-world environment. Unreal Engine serves as a dynamic tool for achieving this balance of 2D on Live Action, offering flexibility, experimentation, and exploration in camera angles, lighting, and texturing. Enabling us to push the boundaries of storytelling and animation in real time, while efficiently supporting collaborative work on our creative vision at the same time.
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2D Animation on Live Action
2D characters animation in Live Action environments.
Presenting a rich mixed-media approach to animation, 2D characters move within a gritty, live-action urban environment, creating a vivid visual narrative that juxtaposes the youthful adolescence of our teenage protagonist against a realistic, grown-up Brutalist reality.
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Assets Library
Production of animation and assets in Maya.
Maya is the go-to tool for our character animation. Its advanced animation and modeling tools, specialised workflows for rigging, and precise control over character movement, combined with our ability to create a library of assets derived from our concept art, seamlessly integrate with Unreal Engine, enhancing our process and overall animation production.
Creative Direction
1980's Retro-Futurism
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Brutalist Council Estate Enviroments
Building an urban fantasy
City Limits: Unboxed imagines an inner-city London landsacpe of the future, viewed through a mid-eighties and Brutalist architectural lens. Post-war council estates float above the streets, and a labyrinth of abstractly arranged apartment blocks takes the viewer into an extraordinary concrete neighborhood that's familiar yet distinctly remixed, unlike any place they've ever seen before.