- G8 Creative Awards
- SREDA
- ADCR Awards
- Silver Mercury
- White Square
- Red Apple
In 2023, MTS celebrated its 30th anniversary
To mark the occasion, we gathered a team of animation experts and collaboratively created an animated video depicting the life of Anton, the brand’s contemporary, as he lives, evolves, and changes alongside MTS. Each era is presented in its own unique style and made by different studios under our thorough supervision and guidance: the 90s in pixels are crafted by our team, the 2000s in the style of sitcom series by Prand Studio, the 2010s in anime style by HonkFu Studio, and the present time in 3D by ZHEESHEE Studio.
Script
The Story of Our Lives
“The entire team grew up alongside the MTS brand. We started in the '90s, witnessed its rapid growth in the 2000s and 2010s, and in the 2020s, we’re pushing for even more. Our montage revisits the memorable moments of each era, from the first SIM card to MTS modems on a flash drive. With Anton as our central figure, we nostalgically race through three decades, framing his life story with iconic events, people, shows, and items from each time.”
Character Design
Hey, Anton!
During pre-production, it was crucial for us to create a meaningful and visual framework so that the involvement of other studios wouldn’t affect the consistency of the video. Therefore, we put together an extensive presentation with design references for each era, developed an animatic for the entire story, and also worked on 2D sketches of the main character at different ages.
Pixel Part
1990s. Childhood
The beginning of the video is set in the 90s, the childhood era of the main character, Anton. We produced this part of the video ourselves. We chose the pixel art style to pay homage to the games of that time: arcades, platformers, and fighting games. Our goal was to evoke a retro feeling by using large pixels, flickering effects, and limited animation.
“All the characters were found quite quickly because in our collaborative process, we toss files back and forth like a game of ping-pong, refining and reworking each other’s work. By passing characters through the impeccable taste of each team member, we discover the coolest designs that none of us would have drawn individually. It’s like a neural network, but alive and dope.”
Misha Petrick, Environment Design:
“Creating pixel art is a form of therapy. You sit there and choose which square to pick to convey a particular detail. It was especially fun to draw nostalgic objects, like the stereo in the room and Lada car in the street.”
Sitcom Part
2000s. Teenhood
The second part of the video covers the 2000s, Anton’s teenage years. For this era, we collaborated with the Prand Studio - they handled the production, while we focused on the overall direction. For this period, we chose the style of 2000s sitcoms: stories about the school period, cartoonish characters, and detailed backgrounds. The characters are very lively, emotional, and sometimes awkward. Teenagers in all their glory!
Eldar Selimov, Art Director:
“The backgrounds and architecture capture the essence of the 2000s. Exaggerated, distorted perspectives, bold color choices blend in their imperfection with the character design. A characteristic feature of the backgrounds from that period is the crafty hand-made touch. These details emphasize that the industry had not yet entirely transitioned to the digital realm.”
“Characters of this era are recognizable due to their angular style and whimsical proportions. Our moms used to call them “freaks”. This angularity and stylization capture the essence of teenage years.”
Anime Part
2010s. Adolescence
The 2010s marked Anton’s student years and first job - a time of adolescence, the warm light of classiooms, the bright lights of parties, university life, and the romanticization of growing up. We chose a classic anime style with modern colors and characters, and HonkFu Studio delivered an outstanding production.
Ruslana Mirzaalieva, Character Design Concepts:
“Reflecting on the outfit for the main character of the 2010s, we exchanged our photos from those years, and it was funny and nostalgic.”
Stas Bashkatov, HonkFu AIt Director:
“To create backgrounds in the style of Makoto Shinkai, all you need is.. depth of perspective, conveying emotional states through lighting and color, high detail, and meticulous material rendering.”
3d Part
2020s. Adult Life
Finally, for the last time period - the present-day Anton - 3D with realistic proportions and lighting was chosen. ZHEESHEE Studio took on the production of the final chord of the story.
“One of the challenges was finding the plot for the final part. There was no nostalgia in it, only the present. It was difficult to find the right tone and maintain the emotional pace after the parts saturated with references from the past. But in the end, we managed to find and implement the emotion of a random, unexpected fireworks. Because no matter where you are, the sounds and flashes of fireworks will make you look out of the window and return to childhood.”
