NOMINT creates the world's coolest stop-motion

Created to coincide with COP26 and remind world leaders that “once arctic ice melts we can’t get it back”, this heartbreaking film for WWF is brought to life through an innovative combination of 3D-printing, mould-making, and ice-sculpting.

by Jamie Madge on 1^st November 2021

WWF – Can't Negotiate The Melting Point Of Ice

Credits

Production Company NOMINT
Director Yannis Konstantinidis

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Credits

Production Company NOMINT
Director Yannis Konstantinidis

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The mysterious magic of stop-motion animation is an impressive trick at the best of times, but when the material used is as fragile and unpredictable as ice, the illusion is all the more impressive.

Created to coincide with COP26, WWF's stunning Can't negotiate the melting point of ice is the heartbreaking story of a young polar bear that tries to survive in the ever-diminishing Arctic environment, told, eye-catchingly, through ice itself.

Thanks to an innovative combination of 3D-printing, mould-making, and ice-sculpting, London-based NOMINT and director Yannis Konstantinidis undertook a year-long challenge of telling the tale in a form that genuinely complimented the message - the 1000 litres of ice that were used to create the polar-bear sculptures and environment melting on-screen to remind us of the crisis.

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.”

“This was by far the most taxing project we have ever worked on," adds Konstantinidis, "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.”