Commercial film and limited-edition Troika cards with AR — from concept and casting to a night shoot in a closed Moscow Metro carriage.
The Moscow Metro carries 7 million passengers every day.
What if a transit card could help you meet the one?
Moskvarium and Moscow Transport launch the first limited-edition Troika cards — with characters that come to life.
AR ↗
AR ↗
AR ↗
Three cards, three heroes: capybaras, otters, and sea lions — some of Moskvarium’s most popular residents. Custom illustrations in a Wes Anderson-inspired aesthetic: bright colors, frontal precision, and eccentric accessories. Close in spirit to Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Each card has a QR code. Point the camera at it, and a virtual resident appears beside you with a personality of its own. Sea lions swim through the air, otters dive, capybaras jump. Each character has its own original music theme.
A commercial film was produced to support the launch. The cards and the film work as one object: one story, one visual language, one mood.
Three QR codes — three different creatures. Scan the card with a capybara — and it runs along the platform. Scan the otter — and it dives into water around you. Scan the sea lion — and it swims through the air. Augmented reality turns a transit card into a window into another world, right inside the Moscow Metro.
Wes Anderson meets
the Moscow Metro.
The hero is alone in a metro carriage, surrounded by couples. He takes out the card, scans the QR code, and reality changes.
The film tells a touching story through several episodes. The main line follows a lonely guy in a carriage where everyone around him is holding hands. Even the “grumpy woman in a beret” is not alone — she is holding a mini pig, gently kissing it on the cheek.
The hero scans the card and gets a companion: an AR capybara. They leave the carriage together and arrive at VDNH Park. There, the hero bumps into a girl: both drop their cards, both are absorbed in their AR animals. The hero suggests exchanging cards.
The finale takes place at Moskvarium. The characters stand opposite the capybara enclosure. He pulls out another card — with a sea lion.
Symmetrical composition and a bright color palette, in the spirit of Wes Anderson. The camera is always static: no shaky shots, slider moves, or sharp pans. The action happens inside the frame, not through camera movement. Bright color is developed through locations, costumes, and props.
Bright color is the main tool: it appears in costume details, textures, and accessories. Each episode had its own reference set: “Couple 1,” “Couple 2,” “Twins,” and “Lady with a Pig.” Men’s costumes follow a fashion-editorial logic: checked jackets, wide trousers, bright loafers. A nod to Gucci collections.
August 25, 2023, 20:00–01:00. Five hours in a carriage closed to passengers. The orange line, an older carriage design, solid-color seats, no advertising. Filming in a depot or on a night train after the metro closed. Then the VDNH turnstile and platform exit. Securing permission and organizing a shoot inside a closed Moscow Metro carriage was a production challenge of its own.
The PPM deck included casting for several roles: the male lead and female lead (5+ candidates), the “Lady with a Pig”, the “Twins”, “Couple 1” and “Couple 2”. Each role had different actors with different types. Together, the episodes populate one metro carriage and make it feel like a complete world.
Each episode has its own color story. Men’s costume references: checked jackets, wide trousers, bright accessories — in the spirit of Gucci and European fashion editorial. Costumes for the episodic couples use saturated colors and unexpected combinations. Brightness is the main visual tool that ties the cards and the film together.
A Troika card as a reason to meet.
A transit card you want to keep.
