Racing Creativity: Clash of Clans Lunar New Year Animation

Setting the Stage

With the Lunar New Year festivities on the horizon, Clash of Clans geared up to dedicate their February Season to the Year of the Dragon. They needed a fun way to explain the event to the community, knowing visuals would grab their attention best. The call to action was simple: Win rewards and get ready for the upcoming in-game challenge!

Why did they choose us? Clash of Clans is one of our longest-standing clients. We’ve collaborated with both Supercell and Clash of Clans on several of these types of animations in the past, so they knew they could rely on us to get the job done and to a high standard even in the limited time left before the holiday: 6 weeks.

Racing Against Time

With only a few weeks to spare, our team faced the task of creating a frame-by-frame animation worthy of Clash of Clans' reputation and stellar track record. We needed to make sure we’d deliver to tight deadlines while still infusing the animation with the game's essence… and adding our own flair for dynamism and fun.

"We couldn’t be happier with how this project turned out! Despite the tight deadline, our team banded together and smashed it. We're thrilled to have proven our ability to master Supercell's quality bar within the restricted timeline while still infusing our creative juices into every aspect of the project. It was good fun." — Jacob Reidy, Senior Animator, Waste Creative

Bold Decisions Hit Deadlines

In order to hit the deadline, we decided to switch up the art style for the animation. Normally, Clash of Clans prefers 2D designs that closely match the 3D characters' anatomy. However, this would have taken too long given our tight timeline. The complexity of the in-game character anatomy would have slowed down production significantly. So, we proposed a more simplified and stylized approach, using basic shapes for the characters — which Supercell immediately understood the value of. This allowed us to create a fun, expressive, and dynamic animation that told the story of the lore and challenge in-game.

Teamwork in Action

The creative and animation teams had to work closely together during the concepting phase in order to develop ideas that were both exciting and feasible. To deliver on time, we also had to quickly expand our production team; then, we brainstormed ideas and brought them to life, racing with the clock to deliver a wide range of assets including illustrations, designs, animation, and sound direction, all aimed at engaging the community and getting them excited.

Within the span of six weeks, Waste embarked on a whirlwind journey to bring Clash of Clans' Lunar New Year animation to life. We kicked off by brainstorming concepts and crafting a compelling script to engage the audience. From there, we meticulously storyboarded each scene, mapping out the visual narrative with precision. Our animation team worked tirelessly to breathe movement into the characters, while our clean-up crew ensured each frame was polished to perfection. Background illustrations and designs provided the rich backdrop for the story, while motion graphics added an extra layer of dynamism. Finally, through the art of compositing, we seamlessly integrated all elements to deliver a cohesive and captivating animation experience.

Surpassing Expectations

"We’re delighted with the final product – particularly given the tight timeframe and complexity of the project. Waste Creative managed to deliver beyond our expectations, and we’re thrilled with the level of quality and dynamic animation." — Clash of Clans team

This has been one of our most ambitious and complex 2D animation productions. We took a risk convincing the client to approve an unfamiliar art style that would work within the timeline while still giving a high level of fluid animation as requested — and it paid off. We were able to really showcase the capabilities in our animation team, and when the Lunar New Year arrived, Clash of Clans unveiled our creation to an incredible community response, with even more praise about the animation than usual. More importantly, the video stimulated the audience to go into the game and play the event, re-engaging with Clash of Clans.

The Clash of Clans team was thrilled. Our Lunar New Year animation for Clash of Clans showcased our capabilities as a true creative partner able to adjust to deadlines and still deliver creativity that will excite the community.