We Can’t Negotiate With The Melting Point Of Ice: WWF Releases A Groundbreaking Stop-Motion Advert Created Using Only Melting Ice

WWF’s Arctic Programme has today launched its global campaign to coincide with COP26, to remind world leaders that “once arctic ice melts we can’t get it back”.

The stop-motion film, conceived and produced by London-based NOMINT, used solely melting ice, to tell the story of a disappearing Arctic.

WWF’s campaign follows the story of a young polar bear which tries to survive in the increasingly melting Arctic environment. NOMINT used the natural melting properties of ice to create a direct visual metaphor between the real-life Arctic and the animated environment.

In the film, as in real life, Arctic sea ice is melting quickly “changing the Arctic ecosystems forever, causing destruction around the planet”

The film acts as a stark reminder that world leaders need to act now.

NOMINT used an innovative combination of 3D-Printing, Mould-Making, and Ice-sculpting to create 500 unique polar bear ice-sculptures that were then used to create the stop-motion animation. More than 1000 liters of ice were used to create the polar-bear sculptures and environment. The film, which took a year to produce, was directed by NOMINT co-founder Yannis Konstantinidis in collaboration with motion designers Marcos Savignano and Jua Braga, with music by Ted Regklis.

Andrea Norgen, senior communication manager at WWF’s Arctic Programme commented:

“Animations are powerful tools to tell stories with emotion in a simple, effective way. So, when NOMINT told us about this new animation technique using melting ice, we were intrigued. The climate crisis and the devastating effects it has on the Arctic and the rest of the world are not new but this way of communicating the urgency of world leaders to limit global warming within 1.5°C is.”

Yannis Konstantinidis, founder at NOMINT commented: “This was by far the most taxing project we have ever worked on, both emotionally and technically. Part of the appeal of the concept was that we were going to use the natural melting properties of ice to create a direct metaphor to the Arctic problem. We completely underestimated the fact that once ice starts melting you have no control over it, making it almost impossible to create a stop-motion film of this scale, which famously requires time between each shot. It was especially hard emotionally, as with every melted sculpture and ruined shot, we were being reminded of the devastating issue at hand and how easy it is to underestimate it.”

CLIENT: WWF Arctic Programme
AGENCY: NOMINT
CAMPAIGN: “We can’t negotiate the melting point of ice” PRODUCTION: NOMINT
CREATIVE DIRECTION: Yannis Konstantinidis
DIRECTOR: Yannis Konstantinidis, Marcos Savignano
3d ANIMATION: Jua Braga, Marcos Savignano
SOUND & ORIGINAL MUSIC: Ted Regklis
PRODUCER: Yannis Konstantinidis, Marilena Vatseri MARKET: Global

Source: Nomint

  Andrea Norgen, NOMINT, WWF, Yannis Konstantinidi