'The Ricochet Splendid' by 2veinte studio

Directed & Produced at 2veinte
Creative Director: Pablo Gostanian
Executive Producer: Agustin Valcarenghi
Animation Director: Diego Polieri
Art Direction: Pablo Gostanian, Diego Polieri
2D Lead Animators: Diego Polieri, Fernando Toninello, Juan Nadalino, Israel Giampiero
Additional Animation: Patricio Plaza, Martin Gil, Julian Fumagalli
2D Animation Assistants: Yazmin Hanna, Denise Cirone, Diego Fracchia, Ivan Greco
Additional Clean up: Facundo Garcia, Agostina Salvemini, Nahuel Sagarnaga
Idea: Pablo Gostanian
Characters Design: Diego Polieri
Story: Pablo Gostanian, Diego Polieri, Melisa Farina
Compositing: Daniel di Paola, Mateo Vallejo
Editorial: Pablo Gostanian, Diego Polieri
Production: Carolina L’avena
3D Animation: Mateo Vallejo
Illustration: Diego Polieri, Nahuel Sagarnaga, Patricio Delpeche
Additional Illustration: Santiago Villa
Robot Design: Delfina Perez
Additional AE Animation : Daniel Di Paola
Original Music: Thomas Richard Christensen
Ending Credits Music: Sergio Denis - “Un poco loco”


- Where comes the idea of "Ricochet Splendid" ?

Pablo Gostanian: We've always been big fans of show openings. You see, for us, it's a really interesting piece, as it combines lots of great things, lots of action, great animation, amazing characters, infinite situations. We get to play with the cameras and lead the characters to their greatest moments. It’s a showcase of our design and animation skills.

So, a year and a half ago, the idea was to produce a fun opening for a show that combined comedy (we really wanted comedy) and action. We spent more than a month writing and creating the Ricochet universe, it’s plot and characters.


- It feels like an opening of 80's animated TV series, like Galaxy Rangers, Silverhawks ... which were in fact american TV series animated in Japan. Did you watch such series when your were kids in Argentina ?

Pablo Gostanian: Yeah, of course. We grew up watching all of those shows. They are part of our childhood and today's nostalgia. Their openings are pretty cool to watch today.


- About design and animation, what was your influences ? I can feel a lot of vibes, from Hiroyuki Imaishi to Takeshi Koike, Peter Chung, or even Mike Judge.

Diego Polieri: Thanks for noticing this influences, they are gods to us. I’m pretty sure these references were in our heads at the moment of designing.

We’re really influence by anime, we’re big fans. The drawing style of the characters is pretty much free and expressive, maybe that is why you named Mike Judge, cause our characters also have bizarre and comedy features.

One of the films that has more influence in me was Furi Kuri. For its Aesthetics and animation style. It had a big impact in me for the freedom they had in the way they draw the characters in function of what each scene needed. Another interesting thing, beyond the influences, is that this short was done by a team from Argentina with a different background than the Oriental, and no doubt you can notice this culture and tradition in the work.


- Who made the song and music ? Can you tell us a bit more about that ?

Pablo Gostanian: As soon as we had finished with the draft boardamatic (boards in a time line), we needed a good music track. I had in mind this Danish musician, I loved some of his old work. So, we called Thomas Richard Christensen, we showed him what we’d got so far, and luckily he said yes!

He created the music based on the plot and the characters, it's simply brilliant, he captured each scene of the Ricochet Splendid instantly. I strongly suggest you check out the lyrics, they are super cool.

- So this is a fake opening, but who knows, if some rich producer come to you ... do you have a true script :-) ?

Pablo Gostanian: We wish! As we say here in Argentina “Dream! It’s free” hahaha. But who knows!

The story is quite complete in terms of plot and character outlines but we don't have an actual script right now. It's all a question of sitting our asses down and start writing. We are open to receive an offer from any rich producer haha.

-- Via Catsuka.