BIEN’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball spot goes beyond stereotypes

Diversity and inclusion are topics that are talked about in nearly every industry, but how inclusive and diverse is the design industry, and what's being done to change things? Well, the Los Angeles-based motion studio BIEN is pushing the agenda with its 'Make it BIEN' initiative and has released a new IG video that champions wheelchair basketball at the Paralympic Games as well as diversity and inclusion behind the scenes on the production crew.

David Jeffers, a quadriplegic sound designer, played a key role in the project, providing audio expertise and acting as a disability consultant.

"Typically, when you hear about disability representation, most creatives gravitate towards the image of a person in a wheelchair," explains BIEN co-founder Ricardo Roberts. "With David, we had the opportunity to dive deeper into the nuances, researching the rules of wheelchair basketball, the kinds of wheelchairs used, the various disabilities players have and how the athletes move."

The ambition was to give this Paralympic sport the same treatment any other Olympic sport, or NBA Basketball, would receive in terms of creative execution, and BIEN has included the animation in its latest sports reel. The organisers of the Paralympic Games loved the spot, and it has been shared with positive reviews by thousands of sports fans, creatives, clients and BIEN collaborators.

David Jeffers refined the creative approach to focus on a form of dynamism specific to wheelchair basketball. Many other basketball tropes simply didn't apply.

"From a sound design and proper presentation perspective, I can definitely say it was all about the bounce! The rough animatic had the player bouncing the ball several times, which didn't correspond with the typical wheelchair basketball bouncing cadence based on their travelling rule. Wheelchair athletes must pass or bounce the ball after every two pushes on their wheelchair to avoid being penalised for travelling," says David.

He continues: "The other nuance was the overall court ambient sound. You still have the roar of the crowd, the announcer, etc, but you have to replace the constant sound of squealing sneakers across the court with faint wheelchair sounds, so that means you can't just go to the sound library and get basketball ambience. You really have to take the time to build it from scratch."

BIEN specialises in 2D character animation. The concept for the spot was developed by co-founder and creative director Hung Le, with Elena Dreyer as producer. Nico Piccirilli developed the characters and storyboards, with Alejandro Imondi, Deanna Reilly, Chris Saez, and Ricardo Mendes all contributing to the animation side.

Since its founding in 2017, BIEN has offered its clients a methodology called InMoDe—Inclusive Motion Design—which is centred around the pillars of representation and accessibility. This methodology recognises that the largest minority group is people with disabilities, who make up 15% of the world's population.

'Design with, not for,' is one of the company's mottos. "Our industry isn't diverse, so we must be intentional and find ways to train and onboard junior talent and help them overcome barriers to entry," says Ricardo.

At the time of writing, BIEN is collaborating with the Paralympics on further projects that will surface during the Paris Games. The studio is also working on a project for Instagram, an integrated brand platform for Hulu's Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month, and a live-action project with Google about diverse founders.