The Secrets of Sunflower Valley is a very special project that I hold dear to my heart. Not since I was studying, have I truly been able to create a significant piece of content that I really could say ‘was mine’. No client intervention. Just a bunch of cool, talented people working together to make a fun piece of entertainment.
The animation studio I have worked at for the last 6 years, Pixel Zoo, reached a point where we were able to ACTUALLY start making content that was completely ours.
I was given the very privileged opportunity to pitch show ideas – and one of mine was selected to move forward with development and a small teaser pilot.
I got to write and direct the project, along with participating with production all the way along until the pilot was completed. It was definitely a highlight of my career so far to get paid to make my own show!
The Secrets Of Sunflower Valley’ combines cute children’s stop-motion aesthetics from shows such as Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and Noddy, and throws in some monster movie themes, while still keeping a wholesome, heart-warming feel. We imagined this show is for kids who have outgrown Postman Pat, and now want to see him get maimed.
“Amongst the rolling sunflower fields, you’ll find a village of cute animal friends – Burdened by a dark curse. Every new day brings a different monster to wreak havoc upon them.”
Animated in Maya, and rendered in Unreal Engine 5, we set a goal to flex both our creative and technical skills – with a brief to develop something different from the usual Pixel Zoo style. As wonderful as unicorns, sparkles and rainbows are, we wanted to work on some monsters and explosions!
I’m incredibly proud of how well everything came together, from achieving that miniature handcrafted aesthetic, to the stop-motion stepped animation to all of the lighting and effects. During production, we were also able to develop new processes and procedures to further streamline our already robust Maya to Unreal pipeline.
I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we loved making it!
