MTR Station Signage Short | Motion Graphics and Live-Action Compositing

The signs are in the station every day.This time, they started to move.

Late Studio produced a 28-second vertical social media short for MTR. The film brings the familiar pictograms on station signs to life. The team handled the storyboard, motion graphics animation, location shoot, compositing and editing. The key challenge was letting each sign tell a small story in just a few seconds, within a deliberately lean production. The video was published on Instagram on 14 September 2026.

Background | Client Goal

MTR wanted a short, crisply paced social media video built around the signs in its stations.

The signs cover passenger safety, accessibility, station facilities and station names. The audience is the very passengers who walk past them every day.

The scale and direction of the project were similar to the Back to School short the team had made earlier for MTR.

Creative Direction | Keep the Signs, Add Only Motion

MTR signs are built from simple pictograms and symbols, already a clear visual language. The team kept the original designs and only added motion and small stories. A couple holding hands while waiting on the platform, a passenger making room for a wheelchair user, a commuter who almost loses balance on the escalator… Each sign plays out a short scene in a few seconds. Passengers smile, and notice the signs around them again.

The animation is set against live-action footage of real stations, happening right on the actual signs. What viewers see is the station they pass through every day.

Storyboard and Animation | Motion Previews for 13 Signs

The team selected 13 station signs and wrote an action description for each. Every sign then got a motion preview of a few seconds, and production only began once MTR had confirmed the action and timing.

Wait Behind the Yellow Line

A blue pictogram waits for the train on the platform. A red pictogram walks in from the left and takes his hand, and red hearts keep floating up between them.

Trains

The train drives forward. As it turns, the camera swings to its side, and it finally leaves through the left of the blue area.

Lift

A pictogram rises up from the bottom of the yellow area inside the lift. When the lift stops, a wheelchair user rolls in. The figure instantly turns sideways, sucks in his belly and gestures "after you", and the two nod at each other.

Food Court

A fork and knife cut into a steak that slides in from the right. Once it is finished, the plate flips over and becomes a human head. The camera pulls back to reveal a figure rubbing his full belly.

Charging Points

A figure with a 0% battery above his head trudges in. When he takes the white dot from the charging point, the battery fills from left to right, and he strides off full of energy. At the same moment, the next "out of battery" passenger slides in from the left.

Drinking Water

A single drop falls from the tap above an empty bottle. A hand picks up the bottle, and as the camera pulls back, we see a figure taking a drink.

Exit

The character "出" spins into view, and the letters of "EXIT" bounce in one by one from the right.

Escalator

A figure dances his way up the escalator, nearly falls backwards, grabs the handrail just in time, steadies himself and keeps riding up.

Exit Gate

A figure taps his card, the gate opens, and he picks up his luggage and walks through.

Take Care of Your Pets

A dog wags its tail happily, then suddenly looks up and barks loudly, sound waves rippling outward, and its owner jumps in surprise. The dog then charges forward, and the owner, unable to hold it back, is dragged right out of the red circle.

Please Mind the Gap

A train pulls into the platform and a black figure rushes forward. Just as one foot is about to step into the gap, a red circle appears, and a dark blue figure pulls him back in time.

Station Name: Quarry Bay

Fish swim across the wall and finally gather to form the characters "鰂魚涌" (Quarry Bay).

Station Name: Choi Hung

Colourful tiles drop one by one to form a rainbow.

Challenge 01 | Production Scale

Letting every sign tell a story in a few seconds, within a lean production

The short runs only about 28 seconds, and the production was kept deliberately lean. Each sign gets just a few seconds, yet viewers have to understand what happens at a glance.

The signs are already a visual language passengers know well. Viewers don't need new characters; they only need to see familiar pictograms do something unexpected.

So the team first wrote a one-line action for each sign, then built a motion preview. MTR confirmed the action and timing before full production, avoiding extra design or revision work late in the process.

The team did not redesign the signs or add extra characters or scenes, and spent the time on the humour and timing of the motion itself.

Location Shoot | Capturing the Signs Where They Are

On 2 September 2026, the team shot on location in MTR stations, capturing each sign's position, angle and lighting as live-action plates for compositing the animation.

Compositing and Editing | Bringing the Signs to Life on Location

The team composited the 2D animation into the live-action footage of the signs, so they seem to really move inside the station. The first cut was completed on 4 September 2026. The pacing and shot order were then refined based on MTR's feedback, with three music options provided.

In the final edit, the team prepared two options for the opening. After several rounds of fine-tuning, the film was locked on 14 September 2026.

Result | Delivery and Release

The final delivery was a 28-second, 1080×1920 vertical short, published on Instagram on 14 September 2026: https://www.instagram.com/p/DdRH2ABz634/

Related Work

MTR Mascot | Promotional Videos
MTR | Station Construction Explainer Video
MTR PictureBook | Green T Baby Saves the World