Speak Up For Nature

In 2020, Sir David Attenborough made an unexpected move when he joined Instagram. At 94, the legendary broadcaster grew his account to over one million followers in just a few hours. The reason for this step wasn’t to share selfies or food pics, but to spread an urgent message that’s at the core of his Netflix Documentary, A Life On Our Planet. The Enlive team had the pleasure of creating a pair of AR filters to drive the campaign’s social media reach and engage the younger audience on Instagram.

Building on the unique capabilities that distinguish AR promotions from traditional media, we brought the campaign’s message “Speak Up For Nature” to life in a quite literal way. The two effects placed users in a grim scene of either a polluted seascape, or the lifeless remnants of a rain forest. Scenarios that we’re facing, if we continue to ignore the global issues at hand. To restore this bleak prospect of a devastated world, users had to start speaking, and the scenery would slowly regenerate. An emphasis on strong visuals was crucial, and one of my tasks was to translate this concept into a dynamic scene through various 2D and 3D elements. The transformation effect was realized through a chain of intricate animations that were triggered by a nifty algorithm that reacted to the user’s “mouth-openness” when speaking. While the approach was unconventional, it effectively brought together the final composition.

I always had a special connection to nature, and David Attenborough’s work certainly played a central role in introducing me to some of our world’s most remote wonders. It was a great honor to contribute to a project that has the potential of giving something back. In the end, the campaign helped to spread awareness and was perhaps a small step towards shaping a brighter future on our planet.