Blinkink director Raman Djafari follows up his Euro 2024 spot for the BBC with another soccer-centric piece, this time for the MLS Leagues Cup on Apple TV with London CG and VFX house Analog Studio handling the dramatic visuals.

From Analog: “The Leagues Cup brings together clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX in an intense, high-stakes tournament. For the 2025 season, Apple TV set out to build anticipation with a bold campaign that could capture the drama of these two football worlds coming together.
 

“To honor the players as icons, we carried out full 3D photogrammetry scans of 16 featured athletes.”

 
“Working entirely in CGI, our team handled the full build and animation, incorporating VFX simulations, rigid body dynamics, smoke, cloth, and other effects to create scenes charged with energy and tension.

“To honor the players as icons, we carried out full 3D photogrammetry scans of 16 featured athletes with our friends at FBFX. Their likenesses were digitally sculpted, and then processed into intricate terracotta mosaic statues in Houdini. A symbol of the raw power of the two leagues meeting head-on.”
 
 

 
Client: Apple TV

Production: Blinkink
Director: Raman Djafari

Animation: Analog Studio
EP: Federica Omodei
Head of 3D: Mark Jackson
Head of 2D: Fabio Zaveti
VFX Supervisor: Simon Reeves
3D Lead: Jasper Corker-Marin
2D Lead: Giuseppina Cataldo
3D Artist: Justin Auger, Nil Lopez Ravetllat, Ion Oprea, Dario Muñoz Ortiz, Kris Farr
2D Compositors: Valentina Bartiromo, Bruno Badac, Aaron Paul
3D Modelers: Maurizio De Angelis, Neil Jones, Joe Trimby

Color: Analog Studio

Photogrammetry Scanning: FBFX