Rugby Player Load

Video produced for International Rugby Players providing strategies and advice that help protect the mental and physical health of players and therefore, avoid injuries.

Client: International Rugby Players
Agency: LiveWire Sport / Two Circles
Role: Direction, Animation & Sound

Brief

Professional rugby players face significant physical and mental stress, often leading to serious injuries. To promote a healthier lifestyle for players worldwide, International Rugby Players used an explainer video to highlight key wellness practices.
The video required careful attention to detail, as it was translated into seven languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian, Georgian, Italian, and Japanese.

Initial Styleframe and character design

Process

The storyline travels through the path of a player that is already experiencing a significant load of responsibilities affecting his performance. We review the four aspects to pay attention in the process: training schedule, personal habits, travel and commercial arrangements and matches.

Storyboard

Character Setup & Animation

All the characters were built using the same structure, with interchangeable limbs, outfits, heads to make it easier to make modifications along the way. The rigging was made using Duik with custom effects.

Rigging test in After Effects

After watching many hours of rugby matches, and slow-mo replays, I could gather a lot of reference footage that could help me make convincing actions.

Running sample with video reference

Tire flip workout reference and animation

Ball pass reference and animation

Results

Shown below are thumbnails from the original storyboard and screenshots of the final result for comparison.

Original storyboard and final result

Thanks!

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