Job:
Itaú + Gaulês
Agency:
Druid + Omelete
Year:
2022
If you’re between 30 and 40 years of age you might remember the time when the internet took its first steps, walking hand in hand with the evolution of multiplayer games.
In a not-so-distant past, this technological development gave room to a new type of business aimed at young audiences, the Lan Houses.
A super fun space which entertained youngsters into the night, where they bonded with one another, became tribes, and even professional e-sports teams.
Surfing this nostalgic wave, we got together with Druid’s creative team to talk about the 2022 edition of the biggest Counter Strike tournament in the world - the IEM MAJOR -, this time hosted in Brazil.
#staydirty
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For Brazilian youngsters who lived through the 2000s, Lan Houses were a true milestone in their lives. Counter Strike quickly became a fever among them, even gaining a widely acclaimed map developed by its fans, CS_RIO.
CS_RIO managed to accurately synthesize the atmosphere of the favelas from Rio de Janeiro; Bars, restaurants, humble homes, a football court, samba and carioca funk.
These typical elements made Brazilian gamers feel closer to the game, as well as portrayed in it.
Around the same time, Gaulês emerged, the leader of one of the first professional Counter Strike teams. Gaulês was able to bring people and sponsors together, even creating his own tribe, where multiple people felt home.
With that in mind, our promotional film for IEM Major Rio 2022 worked as a passport to honor this memorable era, as well as this emblematic e-sports character.
A trip back in time, where we tell you a story about a girl who saw her life transformed after getting to know the game and a whole new circle of friends in her community.
If you haven’t sung along to tunes such as “Rap Do Terceiro” or “A Semente” while listening to “Mo-mo-monster kill!” in the middle of the rush with your team, I’m sorry to say, but you haven’t experienced the real CS_RIO.
In the 90s and early 2000s, top-notch computers and high-speed internet weren’t easy to access for all Brazilians.
That was when the country witnessed the emergence of a new business model which appealed to youngsters of all ages, likes and lifestyles. Lan Houses were always packed. They had overnight events, organized tournaments, and even had waiting lines. All because of Counter Strike, one of the world’s most played multiplayer games to this day.
Because this is a film filled with Brazilian elements which intersect with the game, our character was inspired by these same elements. Gaulês, one of the most emblematic e-sports characters, served as inspiration for building our character.
A young football fan from a low-income suburb who got to know Counter Strike in an unusual way, and saw his life transformed.
The game added much more than fun to it. It brought him new friends, other ways of looking at the world, and an inherent talent for the game.
We built a character that would allow us to work his expressiveness. His facial expressions and body language march along with the story arc. Furthermore, we had to keep in mind that we would unveil his adult version by the end of the script. Besides maintaining his expressions and mannerisms, we studied hairstyles which would help us illustrate the passage of time in the script.
One of our client’s main requests for this project was that the audience should identify references to the CS_RIO scenery in our film.
Therefore, nothing better than playing a little Counter Strike, isn’t it? Hehehe
We studied the map, absorbed its most memorable features such as the water tower, the football court and the narrow alleys, and then started building our scenery. Of course we did it such that it would allow for adaptations to our drawing style, and to our character’s path inside this atmosphere.
This project required deep research.
We studied the diversity we could explore with our characters, each individual costume and accessory from that time, as well as the computers used back then. We decided for a more realistic anatomy and spatial composition, without distorting characters’ bodies or stuff like that. Colorful illustrations and detail-rich scenery (and why not easter eggs?), combined with an editing process akin to that of short films, fewer shots with loose cameras and many dry cuts.
When we set out to our character’s adult world, the objective was to take away all the spark he had found when he learned about the Lan Houses.
For this reason, we opted for downplaying the scenery with more washed out colors, so that it reflected the tedious atmosphere life cast upon him, until when he gets called on to live that magical moment once again, and with a dynamic transition we are taken straight to IEM Major Rio!
A challenging film, which made us bet on elements of our Brazilian culture, and which connected to an audience who experienced this era, and also extolled the importance of hosting this huge event in our country for the first time.
Executive Production
Ito Andery
Account Manager
Karima Ruhmann
Account Assistant
Letícia Pugliesi
Directors
Gustavo Leal e Faga Melo
Head of Production
Jéssica Sales
Line Producer
Karen Xavier
Storyboard
Felms
Animatic
Jefferson Lima
Art Director
Felms
Illustrators
Júlia Albertin, Ana Rocha, Thiago Baggins and Igor Pizzuto
Animation Director
Jefferson Lima
Tradicional Animation
Tiago Ots, Danila Ribeiro, Brenda Maryan, Gabriel Chagas, João Mauricio Batista, Marcio MOA Perrella Jr., Thiago Geremias de Oliveira and Geovani Angelo
Clean Up
Tiago Ots, Danila Ribeiro, Brenda Maryan, Fernando Rangel, Daiane Mateus Furlan, João Mauricio Batista, Julia Balthazar, Tia Kira (Rafaela Santos), Marcio MOA Perrella Jr., Ana Carolina Gonçalves and Geovani Angelo
Head of compositing
Caique Moretto
Compositing
Saulo de Castro, Tiago Castro and Thiago Bernardes
Audio production company
Antfood Music & Sound Design