Where the Buffalo Roam (WTBR) produced all five episodes of this animated docuseries for Google Marketing, pooling together artists and creative companies across four continents and seven time zones. WTBR wanted this series–titled Being Human Is–to feel like a collection of cinematic documentary fables–nonfiction comic books with subject matter firmly rooted in reality through the words of the participants, with a visual language reaching deep into the world of mythology and magic realism.
Oddfellows, Meister, Where the Buffalo Roam and Giant Ant served as animation studios on the series. Nico Carbonaro (who’s repped by Nonfiction Unlimited) and Tuesday McGowan via WTBR directed the series.
In this first episode–“On Silent Ice” for which Oddfellows was the animation studio–we are thrust into the world of deaf hockey.
WTBR took a bespoke approach to the music and sound, bringing a unique and nuanced soundscape to each story, including “On Silent Ice.” The music is cinematic and orchestral with the eclectic sounds of each participant’s home and culture mixed in. Here, they brought on a team of composers and sound designers, led by Space Lute’s JR Narrows, with one of the original compositions performed by a 53-piece orchestra in Budapest.
“On Silent Ice” also shows how the Live Transcribe feature on a deaf hockey player’s Android phone allows him to connect in real time with professional scouts who are looking for stellar rink talent.
