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Network Rail Think Safety: showreel still

Network Rail Think Safety

Client
Network Rail
Services
Concept Development · 2D Animation · 3D Animation

Four short animated safety films for Network Rail employees, each dramatising how a small, easy to make mistake can snowball into a serious accident, built around the recurring line 'Think Safety'.

The Brief

Network Rail asked CUMI to bring to life a set of safety campaign designs originally developed by RY, aimed at employees. Each short film needed to communicate, clearly and memorably, how a chain of small mistakes can lead to a serious incident, reinforcing Network Rail's own safety message, “Our Health & Safety Management System sets out the processes that deliver our health and safety objectives and control health and safety risks. It follows industry best practice and is applied across our company.”

What CUMI Created

Written and co directed by Nick Wollard, the films were produced in Flash and After Effects, with 3D used selectively where it served the story. This was a series of four films made for Network Rail; the fourth, "Wagons Role", widened the same idea to "think about the bigger picture, think safety", showing how overlooking one seemingly small detail can lead to a chain of events culminating in a catastrophic accident. It was created using Adobe Flash and composited in After Effects.

Quite a Shock

The first of the series (1 min 42 sec): an everyday moment where a small oversight sets off a chain reaction, establishing the 'Think Safety' tone the rest of the series builds on.

Quite a Shock: still

The Cow

The second film (1 min 47 sec): the same premise, a different scenario, chosen for the British Film Institute's own archive of CUMI/RY work for Network Rail — see CUMI's <a href="/work/bfi/">BFI</a> project.

The Cow: still

Portaloo

The third film (2 min) continues the series' visual language, again tracing how one small lapse can escalate.

Portaloo: still

Wagons Role

The fourth and final film (1 min 46 sec) widens the lens to "think about the bigger picture, think safety", showing how overlooking one small detail can culminate in a catastrophic accident. Created in Adobe Flash and composited in After Effects.

Wagons Role: still
Wagons Role still
A frame from Wagons Role.
Network Rail Think Safety, illustrated banner from the original campaign page for Quite a Shock, The Cow and Portaloo, a crowd of football fan characters at a delayed departure board
The illustrated banner from the original campaign page covering Quite a Shock, The Cow and Portaloo.
Network Rail Think Safety, Quite a Shock, a forklift carrying a pallet load past a worker near a fenced yard
A frame from Quite a Shock.
Network Rail Think Safety, The Cow, an illustrated cow standing on a railway line watched by two characters
A frame from The Cow.
Network Rail Think Safety, Portaloo, workers at a floodlit tunnel entrance at night
A frame from Portaloo.

Credits

Writer / Co-Director
Nick Wollard
Animation
CUMI
Client
Network Rail (via RY)