From Participant, Actual Films, and Chicago Media Project, IN WAVES AND WAR has captured the transformative journey of former Navy SEAL’s – DJ Shipley, Matty Roberts, and Marcus Capone – as they explore unconventional psychedelic treatments like Ibogaine to address traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For directors Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen, and producer Jessica Anthony, the challenge was to objectively depict the intense combat experiences and visually portray the subjective inner journeys during Ibogaine treatment. Recognising animation’s unique potential, Actual Films reached out to London’s Studio AKA, renowned for innovative storytelling through animation. Four directors from Studio AKA – Marcus Armitage, Gergely Wootsch, Steve Small, and Philip Hunt – collaboratively interpreted combat memories, with the collective aim to achieve visual harmony across the sequences, crafting a cohesive narrative that immerses viewers into the subjects’ perspectives.

Objective memory sequences illustrating combat stress utilised a hand-rendered 2D animated charcoal technique, creating a visceral connection to raw memories. In contrast, the Ibogaine treatment sequences embraced subjective representation and 3D volumetric animation with 2D illustrative techniques, creating deeply personal representations of inner journeys and recontextualised perceptions. Production spanned 11 months, led by AKA producer Nikki Kefford, with two specialised teams of artists handling 2D and 3D animation. This ensured the studio’s capacity to exceed expectations while adhering to a demanding schedule as the documentary unfolded through a multifaceted ideation, development, and implementation process. Each director developed a distinct visual signature for their sequences, maintaining a symbiosis between them to ensure a harmonious blend.

IN WAVES AND WAR stands as a tribute to unwavering resilience, presenting an emotive exploration of deeply embedded memories and heightened consciousness. Enhanced by animation, the movie echoes the profound emotions intertwined within these human journeys.

The OPENING and The ABYSS

The documentary opens within an ethereal void where we encounter Marcus Capone falling helplessly through a tempestuous vortex, besieged from all sides by his past, manifested in myriad family photographs.

Later in the film, Marcus describes enduring a relentless freefall through memory until he finally reaches an Abyssal plain. Here, thousands of photographs form an impenetrable wall within which he is forced to confront images of a troubled childhood and loss experienced in combat, a catharsis which finally liberates him.

“Each Ibogaine sequence has something tangible and relatable at its core. From this foundation, each recollection diverges into its own accented and unique perspective. For DJ Shipley’s sequence, director Gergely Wootsch explored multiple interiors and rooms that signified a claustrophobic, layered set of memories that DJ navigates. In Matty Roberts’ section, director Steve Small explored a boundless expanse where Matty is repeatedly and viscerally confronted by himself, with no place to escape from his innermost reflection. For the sequences featuring Marcus Capone, I was struck by the juxtaposition of a confident, robust individual describing his utter helplessness as he tumbles through an unknown chaos, assailed by swarms of family photos from all sides. His turmoil peaks in an abyssal void when he confronts a literal wall made of his memories, a barrier he can’t overcome. But in each place of desperation, clarity and understanding emerge and, ultimately, some release,” said Philip Hunt animation director on OPENING and ABYSS.

The TALL GRASS and RED WINGS

The Tall Grass is the first of a pair of 2D hand animated charcoal sequences. This composition offers a point-of-view glimpse into the intense recollection of a combat experience by one of our main characters. The narrative vividly portrays an encounter with an adversary amidst dense foliage.

Operation Red Wings was a fatal special operations mission, recounted here by Marcus, Matty & DJ. It is the second of two accounts of combat visualised through charcoal animation.

“In our initial discussions, Directors Jon and Bonni referenced War Photographer Robert Capa, particularly his images of the D-Day landings. They capture frantic and dangerous moments and put you in the shoes of a soldier making that run up the beach. The photographs are blurred and smeared, with only the figures captured in sharp detail. We’ve sought to capture something of this in the charcoal animated sequences, striking the right balance between the sense of movement and the clarity to read the figures on the screen. This visual inspiration brings feeling inside DJ and Matty’s heads – in some small way, experiencing an idea of their trauma,” said Marcus Armitage, animation director on the TALL GRASS & RED WINGS sequences.

The LABYRINTH

DJ Shipley’s Ibogaine experience guided him through a sequence of vivid memories as they unfolded within a series of ethereal rooms, a labyrinth where emotive moments from his past appeared on panels and screens. Each compelled him to confront his personal history, providing a contextual understanding of his present-day life.

“The Ibogaine sequence protagonists were meticulously crafted based on photogrammetry scans and 3D human models. This approach allowed us to convincingly depict Marcus, DJ, and Matty while injecting a personal touch into the portrayals, transcending the boundaries of mere realism. We used a mix of motion capture and hand-keyframed animation in Maya and Houdini to move the figures, and while we relied on the computer to initiate the visuals, we wanted to complement the image with hand-painted backgrounds and textures. The final look is a collage of all of the above elements that incorporate photographs, illustrative elements, and semi-realistic characters,” said Gergely Wootsch, animation director on the DJ Shipley sequence: THE LABYRINTH

The MIRROR

Matty Roberts’s experience on Ibogaine distinguishes itself from that of our other two protagonists in that it doesn’t revolve around images from his past. Instead, Matty finds himself lost in a vast and boundless present, an expanse where he is confronted by endless versions of himself as he undergoes the breakdown of his ego. The encounter is both shattering and a moment of profound personal insight.

“We needed to signal to the viewer that these were glimpses into the subject’s recontextualised perceptions of Ibogaine rather than a recall of how events played out in the real world. At another time, we might perhaps refer to these events as ‘visions.’ Two key factors seemed familiar to all the subjects: 1. They often found themselves ‘watching themselves’ in various pivotal life episodes. 2. During these sessions, they could interact with and move freely from one experience to another. This one-step removal provides a unique platform to observe and re-evaluate their psychological territory in a previously impossible way,” said Steve Small, animation director on the Matty Roberts sequence: THE MIRROR