Global animal rights organization FOUR PAWS has launched the ‘Be Their Voice’ campaign. The campaign, in partnership with specialist creative agency Catsnake and South African production and animation company Bewilder, shines a light on the cruel practice known as live slaughter of lambs. The film aims to raise awareness and inspire international action, calling on fashion brands and policy makers to ban this inhumane practice by 2030.
The stop-motion film Be Their Voice follows Jesse, a PhD student, as he attempts to perfect his sheep translation software with the help of a young sheep named Sonny. What starts out as a heartwarming story takes a disturbing turn when Sonny learns what will soon happen to him at the farm.
Catsnake felt that the best way to express the true horror of the live slaughter of a lamb was to focus on storytelling that emotionally engages the audience. Rowena Wiles, creative director at Catsnake, said: “Many animal rights campaigns rely on sharing cruel and shocking visuals, which prevents a wide audience from engaging with the issue. We know there is a trend. Instead, we wanted to draw people in with humor and heart before telling them the shocking truth of this practice.”
In collaboration with Bewilder, the film was brought to life with a mixed media approach. Recreate the look and feel of stop-motion with the flexibility of 3D animation. All sets, props, and lighting were created in Bewilder’s in-house studio, with 3D characters placed in later.
Ruan Vermeulen, Bewilder’s creative director, explained the process: Combining a wide skill set and a versatile creative team, our goal was to create an animation… Read more
