While animation is our bread and butter at Planet Nutshell, we have done a number of live action projects over the past few years. Often, these productions combine film with animation in interesting ways, as well.

We have been lucky enough to collaborate with some fabulous live-action producers, including the very talented folks at True Life Media. Meanwhile, our producer, Sam, gets to employ his deep background in live action production; one of his rare talents is creating detailed call sheets so that our shoot days stay on track.

Shoot days are a flurry of activity: Setting up locations and lighting, filming b-roll footage, filming interviews, and more. They are carefully scheduled so we can maximize our time and get as much quality footage as possible for a given budget, as we did at a recent shoot at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

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Meanwhile, our internal team is often hard at work on storyboarding and designing all the animated sequences for our hybrid live action/animation projects. Here’s a glimpse into the editing process, combining the animation and live-action for a recent project for Health Leads.

We’ve had a blast creating live action productions for our clients. Here’s a look at just a few of our favorites so far:

Health Leads: Community Referral Networks

(Live action footage by True Life Media)

LightForce Orthodontics

(Live action footage by Bagamor Media)

Alloy Therapeutics: Hello World

(Live action footage by Bagamor Media)

The PN team is shocked, angry, and saddened by the senseless violence in Ukraine. If you feel like we do, and have been searching for a way to help, here are some credible relief organizations that are making a meaningful impact. Consider giving them your support.

UNICEF

“As needs in Ukraine escalate in line with the conflict, UNICEF is rapidly stepping up emergency response efforts throughout the country, providing critical supplies, access to safe water, child protection and more. Your support can make a difference.”

Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders

“As the war in Ukraine escalates, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is mobilizing to set up emergency response activities. We now have teams in Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, and Belarus. MSF is an independent and impartial organization committed to providing medical humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war no matter who they are or where they are.”

Voices of Children

“The Voices of Children Foundation has been helping children affected by the war since 2015. Thanks to you, we provide psychological and psychosocial support to children. It helps them overcome the consequences of armed conflict and develop. Today, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are providing non-stop assistance to affected children and families from all over the country, providing emergency psychological assistance, and assisting in the evacuation process.”

International Committee of the Red Cross

“The ICRC has been working in Ukraine since 2014. Our operations in the country are among the ten largest ICRC operations worldwide with a team of over 600 staff members. Working closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, we are increasing our response to the humanitarian needs in Ukraine. Our support to people includes emergency assistance such as food, water, and other essential items. We also support hospitals and primary healthcare facilities with medical equipment and emergency preparedness. We repair water stations and support households to rehabilitate their damaged homes. We also help families separated by the conflict reconnect.”

Save the Children

“Two million refugees have now fled Ukraine, including at least one million children. Children on the move are at risk of hunger, illness, trafficking and abuse. Your donation today to the Children’s Emergency Fund can help provide children and families at risk in Ukraine and around the world with immediate aid, such as food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support and cash assistance. Together, we can protect children in crisis.”

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

“Millions of people — mostly women and children — have been forced to flee Ukraine. They are sheltering in underground train stations, walking hundreds of miles and leaving behind everything they’ve ever known. UNHCR is on the ground scaling its response to provide assistance and ensure those displaced find safety in welcoming arms in this moment of crisis.”

CARE

“A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Ukraine as attacks of war put millions of lives at risk. Innocent families, women and girls, and the elderly will suffer most. CARE’s immediate crisis response aims to reach 4 million with your help. Your emergency gift supports CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund to reach 4 million with immediate aid and recovery, food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support, and cash assistance — prioritizing women and girls, families, and the elderly.”

International Medical Corps

“The war in Ukraine is creating an increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis. International Medical Corps’ teams inside Ukraine and in the surrounding region are responding to the conflict by expanding access to medical and mental health services for those living in affected communities, and working to help refugees. Your gift today can help more people receive the lifesaving care they deserve.”

Source: NPR

We’ve taken yet another trip around our bright star, and we have lots of work to show for it. While the total number of projects we completed was certainly fewer than in 2019, which was the busiest year in our history, the work we did this year was distinctive in terms of production values and complexity. In 2021, despite the headwinds of the pandemic, we managed to push ourselves and step out of our collective comfort zone, delivering some of our best work yet.

Here are some highlights from a super strong 2021.

WholeSchool Mindfulness

We could all use a little more mindfulness in our lives, especially after this past year, which is why we’re proud to have been able to partner with Whole School Mindfulness. If you are a teacher or administrator, check out the great work they’re doing at wholeschoolmindfulness.org.

MA Dept. of Public Health/MORE Advertising

We worked with the folks at MORE Advertising on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to create a series of spots about PrEP. For a deeper dive into the production process, and to see all the spots, be sure to check out our project breakdown. And to get more info about the PrEP campaign, visit carethatfitsyou.org.

Kentucky Educational Television: Artsville

Our long-running series for KET, a PBS affiliate station, continued in 2021. My personal favorite from this year is the episode above, which teaches the basics of musical notes using a video game called “Cello Champ.” If you want to catch up on all the Artsville fun, the full series is available in the PBS LearningMedia Library.

Kentucky Educational Television: Let’s Learn Kentucky

We worked with KET again this year to help spread the word about early childhood education and the importance of turning everyday life into learning opportunities to read, talk, count, play, move and connect. This video was part of a package that included digital still assets for a major launch of the Let’s Learn Kentucky initiative. For more info, visit letslearnky.org.

Azúcar

Utah Education Network Holiday Spot

No Year in Review is complete without a holiday spot for our dear friends at Utah Education Network. This year’s theme was “emergence,” coming out of our warrens, our separated lives, and simply enjoying something together. Here’s hoping we can all do more of that in 2022.

As we close out the year, I want to give a huge thanks to the internal team who worked on these projects: Jen Sanchez, Songyi Park, Mollie Davis, and Sam Berliner. Also, thanks to Jody Snider for helping us to take our work in interesting new directions this year.

And none of these projects would have come together without the contributions of our freelance team. My appreciation goes out to Liz Breen, Natalia De Souza Brondani, Taiko Sound, Hannah O’Neil, Rosi Amador, Brian Amador, Kim Hui, Kyle Arrington, Robb Moreira, Joy Arcolano, Taryn Johnson, Holly Hillman, Alisa Amador, Anoosha Syed, Ethan Barnowsky, Christoph Gelfand, Camille Vincent, Rachel Howell, Jessica Mao, and Andrew Lander.

Our 2021 Clients:

• George Bard
• Brigham & Women’s Hospital
• Kentucky Educational Television
• Utah Education & Telehealth Network
• MORE Advertising/MA Dept. of Public Health
• Pierre Valette/Covetrus
• Cult Health/Servier Pharmaceuticals
• WholeSchool Mindfulness
• Banner Health
• Brookline Community Foundation