Responses by Tiago Ribeiro, producer, AIM Creative Studios.

Background: Mezamé is a psychological therapy practice that specializes in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) currently expanding across the United States. The client was looking for a partner to produce a short, animated video explaining EMDR therapy to the public, as it is not currently well known or widely understood.

Design solution: In reworking the initial script and going through Mezamé’s brand identity, we grounded our storytelling narrative on three main concepts: the therapist-patient emotional journey, the eye as a portal to the mind and the zen rock garden as a visual metaphor for the human brain.

Favorite details: This was an amazing creative journey together with a supportive client and a great team. The output reflects the dedication of everyone involved in the project. The sharp direction of José Teixeira, the art direction and illustration of Susana Diniz and Pedro Semeano from Adamastor Studio, and the talent and hard work of the animation team, who was comprised of Alexandre Braga, Alexandre Sousa and Siddharth Sinha. And last but not least, the amazing motion design and compositing work made by Daniela Carvalho with the help of Ricardo Nilsson, and the bespoke soundtrack from our sound director André Aires.

Challenges: Creating an animated explanation that would both convey Mezamé’s vision and its clinical approach, tackling complex, precise concepts in a relatively short period of time.

Time constraints: We had to make a number of concessions. However, we managed to find creative and technical solutions to keep the quality that we always aim for. A well-planned, organized production is the key to making sure every step is approved and consistent.

Although production can also be malleable, our decisions taken in the preproduction stage must remain solid until the end of production. Based on a well-defined direction, we gave life to the ideas established during preproduction to overcome time constraints.

New lessons: We proved to ourselves once again that working side by side with the client and bringing them into our process always produces the best results—even if this was the first time that Mezamé was involved in an animation project. We have an open, inclusive approach to preproduction, taking the client’s views, proposals and ideas into consideration as much as possible. This open exchange of ideas is usually the most important, most creative and most time-consuming phase, but by then, the client already has a clear view on how the film will look.