Adidas

The client had very clear ideas in mind for each character look, so we started by doing some studies, trying to find a balance between anime and our never-done-anime-in-my-life style. "Hentai fan art vibes" was the zone we always tried to avoid at all costs.

Luckily, it was in the early stages of script development (which is probably still under some final adjustments) that we understood the importance of having more low-key, simpler animation moments to counterbalance the high paced narrative. After some quick storyboarding rounds, we made just a couple (billions) of animatics until we found the right rhythm. The interesting part was finding connections between shots that would make things flow better. Small transitions and clever frame compositing that made all the difference.

We weren't sure about this project on an artistic level, since anime aesthetics wasn't something we were expecting to explore in the near future. But, on the other hand, we are people who kinda enjoy pressure, so that two of the biggest brands in the world were putting high stakes on this made the project very appealing. Benzema would be a major character in the story, the new Real Madrid kits should look perfect on screen, and lots of influencers and players’ cameos would be expected. Sounded like lots of legal stuff to keep in mind. We couldn't even imagine all the difficulties and crazy plot twists a big production such as this might bring about, added to the fact that we had never done anime before… so of course we jumped in.

So this is it. This was a massive challenge that led us to new knowledge and skills. That's our main reason for choosing projects: the potential they have to transform and enhance our views and tools. We even learned some new tricks with the ball.

So to celebrate that, we made this poster once the production formally ended, dedicated to the characters. Will we ever meet again?

Que viva el fútbol!

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