Wildlife Conservation Animation Case Study for Upper Hay Regional Forests

Room for
the caribou.

A 2D animated video about woodland caribou habitat in Alberta. It shows how aggregate harvesting helps restore the undisturbed forest caribou need to survive.

Client

Upper Hay Regional Forests

Style

2D Animation

Runtime

1:11

meet the woodland caribou

The Brief

Woodland caribou in Alberta are a species at risk. The science behind their habitat is technical. It involves disturbance buffers, seismic lines and harvest planning. The video had to make that clear to a general audience in just over a minute.

Our Approach

We started in the forest with caribou, moose and wolves. Each type of disturbance gets its own simple visual. A map then puts the caribou at the center. Side-by-side forests compare traditional and aggregate harvesting. The story ends with trees closing the gap and a caribou walking back in.

the story in eight stops

Restoring the habitat

The script moves from risk to recovery. Here is the path it takes, frame by frame.

Species at risk

Woodland caribou in Alberta.

Predators

Wolves, moose and caribou share the forest.

Disturbance

Harvest blocks and seismic lines.

The buffer

500 metres around each disturbance.

The habitat map

Caribou at the center.

Aggregate harvesting

A new strategy, circled.

Fewer roads

Logging concentrated in one place.

Room to thrive

A caribou walks into a restored forest.

sketch first, then animate

Storyboards and Script

We storyboarded the script panel by panel before any color went down. Each panel paired a line of narration with a clear action. Pick a panel to compare the sketch with the finished frame.