Working on the opening credits of HBO Max series ‘¡Garcia!’ with director Eugenio Mira and fellow VFX company USER T38 was an absolute treat.

Under the creative lead of Javi Verdugo, our team developed the intro’s animated shots from preliminary concept and story to rigging, animation and compositing. The animation – although fully built in 3D – seeks a 2D style, paying homage to other comic book adaptations, such as the early Batman animated series.

Brimming with action and fights, the expressive scenes from the intro are set in contemporary Madrid featuring some of the city’s most iconic sights, such as the Schweppes neon sign or the Kio Towers. The silhouetted characters were styled after their live-action counterparts and animated on twos under a dramatic play of shadow and light, creating an abrupt, dynamic style that was then integrated by USER T38 with the live-action shots.

The series, set in modern-day Spain, follows a journalist who accidentally defrosts a secret agent with extraordinary physical strength, García, cryogenically frozen in the 1950s by dictator Francisco Franco’s secret service.

‘¡Garcia!’ premiered at Austin’s Fantastic Fest and at Barcelona’ Sitges Fantastic Film Festival. It is available to watch on HBO Max.