Tomaszewicz Studio’s mesmerising film highlights the endless possibilities of junk

Peter Tomaszewicz is one of those animators that never ceases to impress. In 2018, we saw his architecturally infused animation States of Matter come to life, and he stunned us with his wonderfully wrinkly, wobbly and bendy environments. Two years down the line and his partner Christiana joined in on the fun and, now, they work as a creative duo named Tomaszewicz Studio. “We wanted to test what our different creative minds would bring to the table and how we could take this challenge of working together,” Peter tells It’s Nice That.

Tomaszewicz Studio’s debut project was Shrewd Awakening, a film that premiered in 2020 during the heart of the pandemic. A few more short art films later, plus many commercial projects along the way, and the duo have released their latest video, Power Junk – a collaborative film that looks at the endless possibilities of objects. Fun and playful, the tone of the film is just as impressive as the design. It’s transfixing, addictive and utterly therapeutic; you simply can’t take your eyes off it.

Having started Power Junk in the summer of 2021, Peter explains how, at the time, they were both interested in exploring “junk art” – which he coins as being “beautiful in its own respectful way”. What he’s referring to here is the forgotten objects from our daily lives, the parts that get thrown aside and left to rust or fester. Now, both Peter and Christiana are bringing these objects back to life through a simple set design and a whole load of wacky goings-on in between. “The minimal set resembles a gallery space, perhaps a rather abstract one,” says Peter. “To keep consistency with our style, we made it look as graphic as possible with the contrast of moody lighting, plain grey or white backgrounds and colour popping elements.”

Crafted from 3D, the motion design served as the protagonist throughout the making of Power Junk. After all, the pair wanted to make everything look realistic but with a stylised twist – so a touch of hyperreality and the tools to get there was very much needed. With a host of powerful software at their disposal – Cinema4D, Houdini, CLO and Redshift – this made for a “pleasant” process. They could freely create without any limits. “Christiana has an immense attention to details, compositions and colours; she knows what looks good or not,” says Peter. “She comes from a fashion background and sees things in a slightly different way than me, and this is where one of our strengths comes from.” Additionally, the sound design by Amedeo was also key player in the film. “He incorporated a retro sci-fi mood to it that made us question things,” continues Peter. “We had to fasten our seatbelts and just be prepared for the unexpected.”

Working without characters means that the film didn’t need to follow a script, or any traditional storytelling methods, for that matter. The studio and its founders were granted utmost flexibility with their 3D tale of objects warping and melting into one another. “We don’t have an important beginning or an end, there is no specific message,” concludes Peter. “We compare it with going to the cinema with going out dancing. They are both satisfying experiences but very different, you are there to enjoy the moment.”