AN ANIMATED SERIES

about a dog's adventures FOR A TELEGRAM GAME

In the fall of 2024, the game "Lost Dogs" was launched on Telegram. To tell the story of the game, where players can choose one of three storylines, a seven-episode series was written. Our studio took on the production of the series. Take a look at the rough cut we created based on the storyline.

We had very tight deadlines, which seemed almost unrealistic. In just one month, we completed almost twelve minutes of animation. It wasn't just bold; it was very bold.

The first few days were spent adjusting the characters in the series to match the game's characters. We already knew how the main characters would look, but we needed to simplify them for animation, because highly detailed characters are hard to animate in a series. So we first refined the concepts, then drew the characters from different angles.

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 2

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 3

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 4

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 5

Next, we tackled the backgrounds. We decided to develop them using artificial intelligence. We didn't have time to draw the world in detail; that would have taken more than a month. Our AI artists handled the task perfectly.

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 6

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 7

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 8

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 9

Work on movement usually begins with an animatic, a rough sketch of the upcoming story. This is how we figure out whether the conflict works, whether the story is clear, and whether the editing is right. Animatics are the backbone of animation production.

A noteworthy moment: we showed these animatics to a few people, like a focus group, to find out if the story was clear. The focus group said the story was interesting but was very surprised that the cartoon was still going to be finished. Some thought it was already the final image. "Why do you need to draw anything else? It's already clear, it's cool." These were the first reviews we received.

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 10

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 11

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 12

In the next stage, the animators quickly worked on the characters' actions and the story, bringing everything to life. Here's what we came up with:

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 14

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 15

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 16

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 17

Finally, the last stage was compositing: work on the final image, adding effects, assembling the material, and bringing the story fully to life. Compositing is our favorite part. It's compositing that turns a basic, unremarkable image into real magic. See how the frames look without compositing and with it.

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 18

Animated Series for the Telegram Game Lost Dogs — still 19

The result: on the Telegram platform, the series attracted new users. Over the course of the story, Gavkus fought spiders, saved friends, betrayed friends, and became disillusioned with himself and others. He learned what treasure hunting is, how hard that path is, and regretted setting out on it. This is less a story of heroism than of chasing something unattainable and discovering one's own imperfection.

Team

Director

Sasha Potapova

Producers

Asya Indrali

Alina Chekanova

Animatic Director

Zalimkhan Kashezhev

Lyudmila Leisblus

Pyotr Tarasov

Illustration

Arina Nikolaenko