Takeoff for opening animation

The NRK Host Broadcaster TV animation will form the opening sequence in all international transmissions from the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo 2011.

On 8 November, NRK's Design and Visuals department organised a photo session with two young skiing athletes. The stills photos will be projected in the 3D and graphics production.

Spotlight on the athlete

- The Host Broadcaster animation will have a clear affinity with the official visual profile of the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, said Sigrun Giil Fugleberg, NRK Head of Innovation in Design & Visuals.

Focus will be on the athlete, displaying extreme effort and raw inner force. To secure an authentic and young expression, professional athletes were chosen for the studio job rather than trained models.

Two young, top-level sports talents within ski jumping and cross-country respectively, Line Jahr and Eirik Lund Røer, were posing for the stills photos.

Dark and rough

In line with the Oslo 2011 design manual, the animation will have a darker and more stylised expression than we normally see at winter sports events, said Sigrun Giil Fugleberg.

The look will be expressive and rough, displaying Ski-VM 2011's main colours yellow, orange and black. The green studio colour makes it possible to key in any background pictures.

Design workshop

The creative process was kicked off in February, when Sigrun Giil and her team came together for a workshop to start translating the design manual into a TV on-screen look. Participants included designers Johan Sæther, Jørn Veberg, Øyvind Pettersen and Petter Rydeng Ellingsæter.

Johan Sæther and Jørn Veberg have headed the subsequent process together with 3D animator Rune Røsting. Remaining work now entails preparing the stills photos for motion, 3D modelling and animation.

The animation will have an exclusive sound track, specially composed for the Oslo 2011 championships.

Compositing will be done in December and the animation will be finally completed in mid January.