hanging out with the Scots
Client
Starz
We were thrilled with the opportunity to work on this illustration-heavy project starring two of the stars of Outlander for Showtime! We illustrated and animated the stars’ journey through Scotland and delivered series graphics with 3D maps, watercolor palettes, and historical pods.
The Starz series Men in Kilts follows two of the stars from the series Outlander, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, as they journey through Scotland exploring the country and everything it has to offer. As the humorous duo tells stories and educates the audience on the country’s heritage, we put our design storytelling to work using a variety of animation techniques, 3D and illustration.
For each episode, it was important to produce a central design element to help visualize the Scottish history being taught by our hosts. Inspired by antique Scottish woodworking art, we produced fully illustrated graphic interstitials we called “historical pods” that provided edutainment throughout the episodes. These one-minute explainers were incorporated into the show to deliver a brief history lesson around the facts that each episode was centered around.
Artist Carol Cai drew each pod based on the script we were provided and then our creative director John Leamy helped find the voice and animation style, resulting in eight sequences delivering history lessons from haggis to the history of witchcraft. It was important for these pods to strike the appropriate balance between delivering relevant information while infusing the jovial nature and humorous personalities of the hosts and the custom illustrative style allowed us to do just that.
To end-cap various scenes throughout the episodes, we crafted Old English style watercolor plates that beautifully punctuate the scene’s natural conclusion. Whether it’s Sam and Graham sharing a beer or a beautiful pastoral setting, the transition of each end-shot into a watercolor painting adds an emotional footnote that keeps the Scottish setting central to the storytelling.
Interwoven through the episodes are 3D maps that establish where our hosts’ journey has taken us while showcasing the topography of Scotland. We used a wide shot of the entire country as a starting point before animating into smaller towns or landmarks to pinpoint our hosts’ location. Creating a specific style in order to make the transition from the larger map of Scotland to the exact coordinates proved to be one of the project’s bigger challenges as the transition needed to be both quick and visually appealing. To solve for this, we built the topographic maps in 3D and then developed the establishing shot of Scotland first, and then developed a custom transitional language that seamlessly moved into each location.
In addition to the maps, historical pods and watercolor end plates, we delivered a custom logo and animated a logo reveal for the opening sequence. We had a blast diving into the world of Scotland along with our two kilt-wearing hosts.
Props where props are due
