About

TwiceOfNice is the social media handle of a Russian couple named Вова and Аня known for TikTok videos featuring a mix of live-action and digital animation. The quality of the videos, which are done with low-budget, jpeg-based green screen effects, recall flash animation in mobile games, complete with small obstacles and objects which with the characters interact. The couple typically produces narratives that display short parables about relationships.

History

On November 1st, 2019, @twiceofnice^[1] published their first video, a loop of a man drawing a spiral in a notebook. This early video showcases none of the effects that the pair would later be known for but serves to represent some of the looping techniques that would become apparent in later clips. Within two years, the post received more than 343,000 reactions, 6,900 shares and 5,400 comments (shown below).

The following month, on December 28th, they published one of their first special-effects heavy sketches, parodying the invisibility cloak from the Harry Potter book and film series (shown below, left). The post received more than 72,000 reactions, 560 shares and 200 comments in less than two years.

Three weeks later, on January 16th, 2020, @twiceofnice published their first green screen-heavy video, superimposing a character in the video game Subway Surfers. The post received more than 53,000 reactions, 240 shares and 130 comments in less than 14 months (shown below, right).

The group expanded this style over the next few months, crafting short narratives with low-budget green screen effects that feature them interacting with digital objects. On July 8th, they published a video in which they are growing digital vegetables, making the soil just below the ground visible. The post received more than 169,000 reactions, 560 shares and 220 comments in less than one year (shown below).

Over the next month, the group began posting videos that showcased their production process. On August 11th, for example, they posted a video of the couple shooting a video. The post received more than 114,000 reactions, 185 shares and 110 comments in less than one year (shown below, left).

Soon, their videos began reaching millions of views. Their most-viewed video in which the couple attempts to dig themselves out of flooding hole underground. Within one year, the post received more than 26 million views, 1.2 million reactions and 7,800 comments (shown below, right).

Criticisms

The couple is known for their special effects, which many consider low-quality and uncanny. On February 23rd, 2021, Brian Feldman published an essay on the account.^[2] In the essay, Feldman compares the videos to mobile games, like "Hero Wars and Homescapes, which depict sidescrolling views of protagonists solving nonsensical puzzles to free themselves or their companions." He continues:

I see a lot of insidious, cynical stuff online but this feels particularly insidious and cynical: combining the clickbait-curiosity-gap genre of mobile game advertisement with the Motivational Husband/Wife genre of social media post. Grabby videos whose message nobody can really disagree.

Search Interest

External References