Stories from the womb–told in the form of a tour de force film for Bodyform and Libresse–took the #1 slot in SHOOT's Top Five VFX/Animation Chart of 2020. The piece encourages women to talk openly about the highs and lows of their intimate health–the pleasure, the pain,  the love, the hate. Because keeping it in or leaving it unheard comes at an emotional and physical cost both at an individual and collective level.

Also in the Chart mix are: the John Lewis/Waitrose Xmas ad which brings different animtion disciplines to bear; a heart-wrenching "Turtle Journey" from Greenpeace; FKA twigs' stunning music video, "Sad Day"; and an eloquent take on climate change from teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future organization.

So take a look at the best storytelling that visual effects and animation have to offer in 2020.

1:  Top Spot of the Week: AMV BBDO, Director Nisha Ganatra, Framestore Tell #wombstories For Bodyform & Libresse

Client Libresse & Bodyform (owned by Essity) Agency AMV BBDO, London Alex Grieve, chief creative officer; Nadja Lossgott, Nicholas Hulley, executive creative directors; Toby Allen, Jim Hilson, creative directors; Edwina Dennison, TV producer; Lucia Fioravanti, assistant TV producer; Fiona Bailey, art production. Production Chelsea Pictures, bicoastal Nisha Ganatra, director; Shanah Blevins, producer; Lisa Mehling, president/exec producer; Pat McGoldrick, exec producer; Natasha Braier, DP; Mario Kerkstra, design; Adam Hinton, photographer.. Editorial Trim Editing, London Elise Butt, editor. Audio 750mph Sam Ashwell, sound engineer. Music Priestess Shura Remix by Pumarosa Animation, VFX & Color Framestore London Sharon Lock, creative director animation; Haein Kim, Carine Khalife, Salla Lehmus at Soja, Roos Mattaar, Kate Isobel Scott at Everyone Agency, Laura Jayne Hodkin at Strange Beast, Annie Wong, Aylin Ohri, Meagan Elemans, Molly Grace Lawton, Georgie Wilemore, Nella Addy, animators; Tri Do, comp lead; Simon Stoney, compositor; Lee Matthews, digital matte painting; Tim Greenwood, Flame; Simon Bourne, colorist; Emma Cook, VFX producer; Niamh O’Donohoe, design sr. producer. uliet Lock, creative director animation; Haein Kim, Carine Khalife, Salla Lehmus at Soja, Roos Mattaar, Kate Isobel Scott at Everyone Agency, Laura Jayne Hodkin at Strange Beast, Annie Wong, Aylin Ohri, Meagan Elemans, Molly Grace Lawton, Georgie Wilemore, Nella Addy, animators; Tri Do, comp lead; Simon Stoney, compositor; Lee Matthews, digital matte painting; Tim Greenwood, Flame; Simon Bourne, colorist; Emma Cook, VFX producer; Niamh O’Donohoe, design sr. producer. (Toolbox: Photoshop, Nuke, Houdini, Flame, oil paint on glass, stop-motion using models made of fabric over metal armatures)

2:  Top Spot of the Week: Director Oscar Hudson, adam&eveDDB, Animation Ensemble Give A Little Xmas Love For John Lewis and Waitrose

Client John Lewis, Waitrose Agency adam&eveDDB, London Richard Brim, chief creative officer; Matt Gay, Feargal Balance, creative directors/creatives; Genevieve Grandsen, Selma Ahmed, creatives; Sally Pritchett, TV producer; Nia Maclean, Adaeze Ndakoji, assistant producers; Simon Adamson, executive content director; Jessica Taylor, head of content; Lauren Booty, social media director; Phoebe Wright, social media manager; King Henry: Scott Silvey, Danny Tompkins, Paul Knowles (John Lewis) & Alex Fairman (Waitrose), designers/typographers; Anthony Falco, chief production officer; Ben Sharpe, Cave Ellson, head of integrated production; Martin Beverley, chief strategy director; Hugh de Winton, strategy director. Production Pulse Films Oscar Hudson, director; James Sorton, exec producer; Neil Andrews, producer; Ben Burdock, production manager; Anthony Farquhar-Smith, animation consultant; Daniel Landin, DP; Luke Moran-Morris, production designer; Selina Wong, costume designer; Kharmel Cochrane, casting director. Music “A Little Love,” performed and written by Celeste; Celeste, Jamie Hartman, songwriters; Leland Music, music supervison; Polydor, record label; Warner Chappell Music/Reservoir Media, publishers. Sound Design & Mix Factory Anthony Moore, Jack Hallett, sound designers/mixers; Deborah Whitfield, audio producer. Editorial Trim Paul hardcastle, Elise Butt, editors; Polly Kemp, offline edit producer; Ben Elkaim, assistant editor. Postproduction/VFX  Untold Studios, London Neil Davies, ECD; Bruno Fukumomthi, VFX supervisor; Ian Berry, EP; Ellie Joseph, producer. Tom Humphrey, Emre Aypar, Jack Fisher, Antony Allen, Aurelien Ronceray, Leandro Vazquez, Lee Matthews, Thiago Vilas Boas, Richard Harris, James Pratt, Felicia Petersen, Solveig Lynde, Untold Post Production artists. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Photoshop, Houdini, Maya, Z-Brush, Mari, Substance, Arnold) Animation Production HUSH London Sylvain Chomet, animation director; Ru Warner, Lydia Russell, producers; Ed Roberts, lead animator; Aaron Lampert, animator.  Animation Production Not To Scale, London Anthony Farquhar-Smith, animation director, stop motion animator; Dan O’Rourke, EP; Marcela Ferri, sr. producer; Malcolm Hadley, Matthew Day, DPs. Andy Biddle, Steve Warne, stop motion animators.  Animation Production Black Dog/Jacknifefilms, London  Chris Hopewell, animation director; Rosie Brind, producer; Jon Davey, DP; Cadi Catlow, animator; Holly Jo Beck, set designer; Harry Jenkins, Jonathan Minto, modelmakers.  Animation Production Passion Animation Studios Anna Mantzaris, animation director & animation; Lisa Hill, producer; Belle Palmer, EP; Donna Wade, DP; Hugo Vieites Caamano, VFX supervisor (shot at Arch Film Studio); MegaComputeur, animation director; Belle Palmer, EP, Mike Turoff, head of production; Anna Cunningham, producer; Jason Nicholas, head of CG; Dave Walker, VFX supervisor; Tim King, editor; Colin Perrett, SIM.  Animation Production Anete Melece, character & background design; Stefan Holaus, animation.  Animation Production Shotopop Casper Franken, illustrator/designer; Dipankar Senguptak, animation director (motion) and cel animation; Carin Standford, art direction; Samantha Friend, illustrator; Jong-ha Yoon, cel animator; Leo Evans, compositor; Georgi Chalakov, animator; Eliza Bone, Donna Marie-Howard, producers.  Puppets Arch Model Studio Andy Gent, puppets; James Ward, character design.

3:  Top Spot of the Week: Aardman, Greenpeace Take Us On Heartfelt “Turtle Journey”

Client Greenpeace Production Aardman, Bristol, UK Gavin Strange, director; Emily Stone, production coordinator; Sam Morrison, writer; Maya Wilson, storyboard artist; Sylvia Bull, character design; Davide Mastrolonardo, environment & background design; Thomas Sewell, set dresser; Chris Entwistle Tandie Langton Bronwen Salter George Watson, modelmakers; Simon Jacobs, DP; Alison Evans, Gareth Love Lee Wilton, Inez Woldman, animators; Louis Mcnamara, assistant animator; Damien Gray Guy, Holme Nat Sale, electricians; Sam Holland, rigger; Erica Powenall, Adam Cook, camera assistants; Sami Goddard, producer; Rich Spence, CG supervisor; Martin Blunden, Trine Sorensen Coolidge, Helen Duckworth, Nathan Guttridge, Ben Toogood, Chuen Tsang, Signe Tveitan, CG artists; Tessa Mapp, Luke Tickner, CG lighters; Joseph Thornley-Heard, FX artist; Owain Peake, additional FX; Rebecca Rose, previs artist; Marta Arisa Clotet, Eva Bennett, Dom Rayner, Mat Rees, CG animators; Fernando Lechuga, comp supervisor; Hugh Brazier, Paule Quinton, Spencer Cross, Jim Lewis, compositors; Bram Ttwheam, colorist; Dan Williamson, editor; Christopher Stock, Dopesheet editor; James Grant, Photoshop artist; Miles Cumpstey, sound recordist. Props Mangostone Ltd. Helen Javes (Toolbox: Maya, Arnold, Nuke, Houdini, DaVinci Resolve, Dragonframe, Photoshop, Procreate) Music Penguin Cafe Arthur Jeffes, composer. Sound Design/Mix Matt Loveridge, Will Davies. Voice artists Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, David Harbour, Giovanna Lancellotti, Calyssa Miller, Helen Mirren, Bella Ramsey, Ahir Shah, voice artists.

4:  MPC Teams With Director Hiro Murai On Martial Arts-Style FKA twigs music video “Sad Day”

Client FKA twigs/”Sad Day” track from her MAGDALENE album Production Doomsday Entertainment Hiro Murai, director/producer; Larkin Seiple, DP; Jason Cole, Danielle Hinde, Brad Weston, Anita Gou, Nate Matteson, Michael Stirton, FDA twigs, producers. Production Services Company (UK) FRIEND Editorial PARALLAX Luke Lynch, editor. Sound Design/Mix Trevor Gates. VFX & Grade MPC, Culver City, Calif., and Bangalore Michael Gregory, creative director; Elexis Stearn, exec producer; Nicole Saccardi, sr. VFX producer; John Edson, VFX coordinator; Sanchit Soi, production manager; Sririthika Iyer, production coordinator; Toya Drechsler, VFX supervisor; Corinne DeOrsay, CG supervisor; Zdravko “Zee” Stoitchkov, Jim Radford, VFX set supervisors; Siju Murugan, Bangalore head of 3D; Ragest Ramachandran, prep lead; Mahendranatha Reddy, roto lead; Siva Priyan Seetharaman, tracking lead; Jinguang Huang, FX artists; Mason Dash, lighter; Christian Sanchez, modeler; Andy Roberts, Navid Sanati, Hector Cabrera, Luis Artigas, Peter Ulukpo, Balakrishnan Ramadoss, George Gijo Peter, Nanda Kumar Perumal Pillai, Stevenson G, compositors; Alex J., Arulanandhan P, Jaswan Vishnu Prasath Balla Mohan Rao, Jayakumar R, Padmapriya K, Veerapandiyan Devendhiran, prep team; Gretchen Asmar, rigging; Ravisankar S, Suvojit Ghosh, roto; Ankit Dheraj Toppo, Gayathri Sakthivel, Muruganantham T, Muthyalakrishnaiah Doddi, Nithin T K, Sathya Narayanan, Shridhar Bhat, Sreenivasa Aditya, Tejashwini N, Vishal Bhaskar Darkunde, tracking; Ricky Gausis, colorist; Meghan Lang Bice, exec producer, color; Sasha Price, color producer; Sam Ziaie, color assistant.   (Toolbox: Nuke, Nuke Studio, Keen tools, Baselight, Houdini)

5:  MPC Teams With Director Hiro Murai On Martial Arts-Style FKA twigs music video “Sad Day”

Client FKA twigs/”Sad Day” track from her MAGDALENE album Production Doomsday Entertainment Hiro Murai, director/producer; Larkin Seiple, DP; Jason Cole, Danielle Hinde, Brad Weston, Anita Gou, Nate Matteson, Michael Stirton, FDA twigs, producers. Production Services Company (UK) FRIEND Editorial PARALLAX Luke Lynch, editor. Sound Design/Mix Trevor Gates. VFX & Grade MPC, Culver City, Calif., and Bangalore Michael Gregory, creative director; Elexis Stearn, exec producer; Nicole Saccardi, sr. VFX producer; John Edson, VFX coordinator; Sanchit Soi, production manager; Sririthika Iyer, production coordinator; Toya Drechsler, VFX supervisor; Corinne DeOrsay, CG supervisor; Zdravko “Zee” Stoitchkov, Jim Radford, VFX set supervisors; Siju Murugan, Bangalore head of 3D; Ragest Ramachandran, prep lead; Mahendranatha Reddy, roto lead; Siva Priyan Seetharaman, tracking lead; Jinguang Huang, FX artists; Mason Dash, lighter; Christian Sanchez, modeler; Andy Roberts, Navid Sanati, Hector Cabrera, Luis Artigas, Peter Ulukpo, Balakrishnan Ramadoss, George Gijo Peter, Nanda Kumar Perumal Pillai, Stevenson G, compositors; Alex J., Arulanandhan P, Jaswan Vishnu Prasath Balla Mohan Rao, Jayakumar R, Padmapriya K, Veerapandiyan Devendhiran, prep team; Gretchen Asmar, rigging; Ravisankar S, Suvojit Ghosh, roto; Ankit Dheraj Toppo, Gayathri Sakthivel, Muruganantham T, Muthyalakrishnaiah Doddi, Nithin T K, Sathya Narayanan, Shridhar Bhat, Sreenivasa Aditya, Tejashwini N, Vishal Bhaskar Darkunde, tracking; Ricky Gausis, colorist; Meghan Lang Bice, exec producer, color; Sasha Price, color producer; Sam Ziaie, color assistant.   (Toolbox: Nuke, Nuke Studio, Keen tools, Baselight, Houdini)