BIEN Champions Athleticism This Olympics Season with New Sports Reel

Motion design studio BIEN is celebrating athletes and fans alike this Olympics season with the unveiling of its latest sports reel.

The film is a vibrant showcase of BIEN’s work for brands such as Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and the Paralympics. It demonstrates the studio’s deep knowledge of a vast breadth of sports, spotlighting everything from the grace of gymnastics to the intensity of wheelchair basketball, as well as the communities that rally around them. 

The array is captured in BIEN’s hybrid animation style, primarily using classic 2D cel animation – known for its expressive characters and ‘human’ feel – with strategic integrations of 3D animation to speed up production, particularly for complex backgrounds with dynamic camera movements.

Actioning its ‘design with, not for’ motto, BIEN worked with consultants to represent each sporting culture authentically, taking the time to understand its specific plays, rules, diversity, and culture. The result is a portfolio of resonant work that captures the true essence of each sport, backed by a study of its technical aspects and wider significance, from the physics of a soaring basketball to the celebratory fan rituals.

The Paralympics campaign, in particular, was borne out of a passion project dedicated to inclusive representation, which was then offered to the committee for free and shared across its social channels. This collaboration sparked a partnership, with BIEN now actively collaborating with the Paralympics on character illustration and classification guidelines ahead of the Paris games.

Hung Le, creative director at BIEN, comments, "This reel showcases the best of our character animation work related to sports. But more than that, it shows our commitment to applying inclusive motion design methodology behind the scenes with deep research via cultural consultants and relentless advocacy for marginalised groups. Doing fun and dynamic animation work is no longer enough."