Diver

Natasha Romashova, creative:

A portable artificial lung ventilation device helps a child breath — just as professional diving equipment helps deliver oxygen to divers at depth. Both the AVL and underwater gear cost the same (it’s a lot). Based on this observation, the idea for the screenplay was born.

Iliya Buzinov, animation director:

Visually, we decided to create a “documentary report” about the work of divers without depicting specific situations. This format allowed us to focus on the boy’s story. As the plot unfolds, we gradually shift our focus from observing the divers themselves to their equipment and hoses, and eventually transition to real footage of the boy in the pool. In this way, the entire story becomes a metaphor.

Denis Pisarev, art direction:

I’ve wanted to work in a mixed technique with an approach that maximally preserves the 2D concepts of the artist in 3D. In the end, each shot had its own pipeline. At first, it was daunting, but in the end, it was the only convenient solution.

Maks Trofimov, 2D concepting:

I absolutely love drawing keyframes and conveying maximum emotions in a single image. Thanks to the folks at Petrick, I had the opportunity to explore new approaches and revel in amazing discoveries. Attention to detail, sensitivity to narrative and visuals alignment, and, of course, a soft and persuasive feedback approach. It was an exhilarating project, and I’d love to repeat this experience!

Aisha Durmagambetova, 2D concepting:

This is my first experience working on such an animation project, so I’m very glad that I had the opportunity to experiment with style and technique here and understand how my skills can fit into the bigger picture. Seeing the results of the work done, I become even more convinced that any large project becomes possible thanks to teamwork.

Denis Pisarev, art direction:

In developing the character’s look, we aired to strike a balance between realism and stylization, simplifying complex elements of the gear while preserving their logic.

Sergei Ryzhov, look development:

My task was to transfer the stylistic techniques from the created concepts into the technique of texturing models. Hand-painting in 3DCoat came in handy here, It’s not the most convenient technique, considering the realistic proportions of the diver and the numerous small details in his design, but I managed to achieve something. I suppose.

Misha Petrick, creative direction:

One of the most challenging elements of the video was the bubbles. We spent a long time searching for their look, and created many 3D concepts with Zaur. But during compositing, we realized that we needed to simplify the bubbles, and in the end, we hand-drew them in classic 2D animation. However, even this turned out to be a challenging task because there are few examples and experience in animating underwater FX bubbles.