The deity Tartarus. The force of conquest and destruction. Whatever they want, it will be taken. Because Tartarus sees themselves as the owner of everything, as they despise everything. Their servants—Titans—are to impose this deity’s limitless will, with no guilt or shame. Without challenging it. It has been like this era after era, since the beginning of time. Until now, when primordial tears announce the end of the Eternal.  

This short film is a result of a different approach to our creative process. A psychedelic creative trip we embarked upon during several months of lockdown.  

It all started with a raging need to let our creative energy take some shape. We were looking for a project that could challenge our skills and understanding of our own craft at that moment. There were so many things we wanted to try—both technical and creative—we just couldn't focus. It felt overwhelming at times.  

Then Juan Barabani jumped on board bringing his fresh vision, his deep love of art, and a collaborative spirit—and things started to get trippy. The animatic came naturally, too: a reflexive, tranquil pace that let one dwell on the excruciating amount of little details we would be animating. Also, that rhythm felt cosmic and solemn.  

Clocking in at around 2 minutes, with few shots, complex designs, and subtle actions, we knew animation had to be challenging but survivable, so we set ourselves up for “traumatizing.”  

We then established 3 rules:  

 - Economize. Animate at the lowest frame rate possible to force us to carefully draw each pose and set the right exposition for each keyframe. 

 - Be creative with the animation ideas, but don’t go beyond the tone suggested and inspired by the style frames.  

 - Carefully plan the composition workflow. 

But to be honest the final comp rule was: More pain, more gain. Hope you all enjoy and get mesmerized by Tartarus.