LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK CITY — In honor of the 2018 World Cup, Gentleman Scholar (www.gentlemanscholar.com) crafted an animated tribute that celebrates a handful of international players. The studio used the soccer ball to transition from scene to scene, and played off the diverse nature of the tournament by cycling through different animation styles and techniques, including 3D, 2D and cell animation.
“We dedicate this piece not just to the event itself, but also to the unifying nature of this sport in general,” state the company’s principals. “A perfect reminder that we are one world brought together to witness the spectacle of first-class soccer playing. Play hard, play fair and may the best team win!”
William Campbell, Will Johnson and Chace Hartman served as creative directors on the project, with
Jo Arghiris and Christina Roldan acting as executive producers, and Tyler Locke and Ryan McLaughlin serving as heads of production. Macauley Johnson and Chris Finn were art directors and Tim Hayward served as CG supervisor. Designers included Juan Carlos Cuadra, Cristina Barna, Cam Floyd, Hana Eunjin Yean, Trish Janovic, Jina Kwon, Mike Tavarez, Vin Kim and Ana Chang.
Kenny Kerut was 2D animator on the project. Cel animators included Laura Yilmaz, Matt Everton, Lyuben Dimitrov, Cristina Barna and Jina Kwon. James Lane served as 3D animator and Allan Bernardo was 3D generalist. Jacques Clement handled modeling and texturing.
Music and sound design was provided by James Webb.