How Acho Studio Helped Bad Bunny Tell the Story of Puerto Rico’s Gentrification
When certain artists announce new music, the whole world stands to attention. Their impact on popular culture is so great, even the slightest whisper of something new has everyone talking. And when the project finally drops, the internet is set on fire. Bad Bunny, aka Benito Martínez Ocasio, is one such artist.
On January 3rd, two days before the official release of his new album, "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS", Bad Bunny debuted a short film starring famous Puerto Rican actor and poet, Jacobo Morales, and his animated amphibian friend Concho. An artistic amuse-bouche of sorts, the 13 minute film teases many of the key themes of DTMF; celebrating the island’s rich rhythms and unique history, while also addressing the stark reality of the country’s gentrification. Concho the frog has a crucial role in these motifs.
Wanting to craft an authentic and appealing mascot to help illustrate his story, Bad Bunny and his production company, Rimas Entertainment, recruited the help of stop motion animation experts, Acho Studio. A creative company with Puerto Rican roots, the sSudio fit the bill of creative collaborators who could pay homage to the beautiful Caribbean island. Here, director and owner, Quique Rivera Rivera lifts the curtain on how Puerto Rican fauna and flavours inspired the visual identity of this groundbreaking new project.
LBB> Hey Quique! Can you tell me a bit about how you were first introduced to this project? Have you worked with Bad Bunny before?
Quique> I was first introduced to this project by producer Sigfredo Bellaflores from A1 Productions. Bad Bunny wanted to create an animated character as part of and they had seen our work online, identifying it as a potential good fit for the task. We had also previously worked on an animated video featuring Bad Bunny for the 2023’s VMAs, but this was our first time working directly with Bad Bunny and Rimas.
LBB> And what was the initial creative brief?
Quique> The initial brief for this project involved the creation of a stop motion character that had to interact with a live action character of a man. Our main objectives were for the character to win the hearts of the audience while also blending in with the live action world. Parallel to this we also had to create 17 to 20 eight-second-long clips of the character hanging out in a room for Spotify.
LBB> So let’s talk about that character – Concho the frog. What creative direction were you given for this character? And what was the inspiration behind creating this amphibian mascot?
Quique> We were asked to create an anthropomorphic frog inspired by a sapo concho (the Puerto Rican crested toad), an endangered species that is native to Puerto Rico. I was already quite familiar with this animal as both of my parents are biologists and my brother followed similar steps. Growing up, our parents would take us on camping trips and a great part of the trip involved conversations about Puerto Rican fauna, and identifying native species. I also happen to love creating animal inspired characters so this definitely felt like my turf.
El sapo concho, despite being a native species, is often misidentified and is far less popular in Puerto Rican culture than the famous coqui frog. The fact that Bad Bunny chose to use this animal, which became endangered by the introduction of exotic species on the Island, intertwines beautifully with Jacobo Morales’ character in the film – a Puerto Rican displaced by gentrification and foreigners in his own land. All the creative direction we received from Bad Bunny and his team was carefully orchestrated in a way that everything made perfect sense together when it finally came out.
LBB> Did Bad Bunny and his team have any initial feedback on Concho’s look and feel? Did you encounter any challenges and if so how did you overcome them?
Quique> Yes, there were notes from Bad Bunny and his team about Concho’s design at the beginning of the project. For example, in its first version the frog's head was less stylised and more realistic, he had a shorter torso and a smaller waist. I was asked to adjust these features to make Concho more appealing. We were also provided wardrobe designs for Concho by creative producer Janthony Oliveras. The notes were clear and specific, and they definitely resulted in a significantly improved design.
As far as challenges, anything made in stop motion involves a multiplicity of challenges by mere definition, but I would say that the main one on this project was the short amount of time we had to finish such an ambitious and high-end project. We had to approach every aspect of this production with the tight deadline in mind, meaning there was no room for error or experimentation. Our stop motion production team lead by Mariela Ramos-Oquendo was crucial in devising an accurate plan to hit the deadlines and our client provided all the resources and support we needed to stick the landing. We had only 3 weeks from the moment we received the live action footage of our shots until our final delivery of the assets, so a lot of time was spent in pre-production making sure everything was in place and ready to hit the ground running with animation during those 3 weeks. I have to give a big shoutout to our incredible animators Chuck Duke, Scarlet Nelson and Sequoyah Madison for keeping up with the pace without ever sacrificing quality over quantity.
The other significant challenge was ensuring a seamless integration of Concho’s stop motion sequences with the live action on the rest of the film. We are grateful that every department of the film’s production was in close communication every step of the way, making sure that everything was planned and executed in favor of the most successful outcome for the project. We worked closely with directors Arí Maniel Cruz, Bad Bunny, and director of photography, Chago Bennet, in order to meet the cinematography and editorial level of each of Concho’s shots.
We also kept in touch with post house DYAD, lead by Fernando Rodríguez, and post supervisor Omar Rivera from early on, to make sure we were aligned with the post production pipeline, which involved the final integration of Concho with the live action footage. It was definitely a true example of teamwork and we are very grateful to have been a part of this production.
LBB> How do you feel about this animation? And what do you think of the final film overall?
Quique> I am incredibly proud of absolutely everything in this project. Getting to work with Bad Bunny and helping bring one of his ideas to life was definitely a privilege in itself and the final result of the work created is truly magical. I am really proud of everyone on our crew as we accomplished top-quality animation within a borderline impossible timeline, and everyone showed up to work with a smile on their faces from day one up until final delivery. I think the love that went into this project shows in every single frame of the film.
Additionally, the film Debí Tirar Más Fotos is a beautiful piece and has a poignant message, brilliantly delivered by Arí Maniel and Benito’s (Bad Bunny) directorial choices, and masterfully performed by actor Jacobo Morales. It has truly been an honor to craft creativity for this project and it has been wonderful seeing people falling in love with Concho all over the world.
