Curtin University: Degree

Strange Beast directors Kijek / Adamski create stop-frame film for Curtin University, Western Australia.Directing duo Kijek / Adamski have unveiled their latest project from agency Marketforce, Perth an intricate-yet-elegant stop-motion promotional film for Western Australia’s Curtin University. Degree’ uses thousands of paper shapes to create a morphing effect, demonstrating the diversity of the university’s students around the world, the positive impact that attaining a degree from Curtin can have on their life and how “awesome awaits” its graduates.

Advertising agency Marketforce Australia approached production company Strange Beast having seen Kijek / Adamski’s mesmerising music video for Shugo Tokumaru’s track ‘Katachi’ with a view to creating a film in a similar style. “They wanted to create a piece that represents awesomeness,” enthuse the directors.

Despite employing a similar animation technique to that used in ‘Katachi’, the directors used different materials to achieve it - notably laser-cut paper shapes instead of plastic ones, each one hand-painted in a lengthy painstaking process. “We wanted to keep the texture of the silhouettes, showing the handmade material as an important human touch in the general technical smartness,” explain the duo.

Kijek / Adamski shot the film in their native Warsaw, and with the client and agency in Australia and production run by Strange Beast in London, the project was a global collaboration. “The production was so smooth. We proved that there are no boundaries anymore,” say the directors, who point to their favourite parts of the film: “We like the moments where the installation turns into a rhythmic, abstract piece. It's almost hypnotising.”