Hasta La Motion!

It’s getting very hard to stand out in the world of game cinematics. But somehow Blur always manages to pull it off.

Case in point, “A Twist of Fate,” Blur’s trailer for League of Legends, the multi-player battle game from Riot Games. Each vignette in the trailer pumps up the action from the previous vignette, culminating in an over-the-top battle royale that even the most jaded consumer of game trailers can appreciate.

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In the latter-day tradition of epic video-game cinematics, we present DJ Hero. Reared with love by Framestore and directed by Marco Puig, DJ Hero is a knock down, drag out grind in CG overdrive. There’s a lot going on, which—depending on your taste—can work for, or against it.

Through a medley of quick cuts and steely beats, Hero has all the trappings of an action movie—gushing with testosterone, and unabashedly fetishizing explosions and getaway tractor-trailers. The whole shebang kicks off like a DJ set—mix-matching and beat-juggling through an evolving cast of rogue characters and sticky situations.

The look is industrial, borrowed from the classic fusion of sci-fi and grit—popularized by films like Blade Runner. Through a loose narrative and several character face-offs, the piece crescendos with a throng of break-dancers, as the DJ—our master of ceremonies and resident “Hero”—spins a record or two in a celebratory close.

CLIENT Activision / Freestyle Games
PRODUCTION COMPANY Framestore in association with Warp Films
DIRECTOR Marco Puig
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Simon Whalley (Framestore)
DIGITAL PRODUCER Mike Woods (Framstore)
PRODUCER Diarmid Scrimshaw (Warp Films)

VFX Framestore
VFX SUPERVSIOR Diarmid Harrison-Murray
SENIOR CG PRODUCER Sarah Hiddlestone
ANIMATION LEADS Nicklas Andersson, Mike Mellor
FX LEAD Martin Aufinger
RIGGING/CLOTH James Healy
LEAD MODELLING Alex Doyle
TELECINE COLOURIST Simon Bourne

Posted on Motionographer

Psyop follows up their HP Maestro work with another cinematic, refined look from their LA shop starring Kevin Garnett. Though visually much simpler, this piece introduces some of the narrative that GSP classically brought to their run of work with Motion Theory. These scripts pushed that one step further by breaking into “multiple-locations” versus the floating-hands approach of the past.

It’s a shame KG didn’t made it far enough to have this one trail an Eastern-Conference Finals appearance. Sorry Boston.

Client: HP
Spot Title: “Kevin Garnett All-Arounder”

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Co-Chairman, Creative Director: Rich Silverstein
Creative Director: Steve Simpson
Creative Director: Will McGinness
Senior Art Director: Dino Spadavecchia
Senior Copywriter: Alex Flint
Producer: Todd Porter
Assistant Producers: Christine Oh, Jessica Mehl
Group Account Director: John Coyne
Account Director: Melissa Nelson
Account Manager: Nick Pacelli

Production Company: Psyop
Director: Psyop
Psyop Creative Directors: Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick
Executive Producer: Neysa Horsburgh
Live Action Producer: Michael Angelos
Director of Photography: Max Malkin
Production Designer: Floyd Albee

Design/Animation/Visual Effects: Psyop
Psyop Creative Directors: Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick
Executive Producer: Neysa Horsburgh
Producer: Kim Wildenburg
Lead Technical Directors: David Chontos, Kyle Cassidy
Designers: Alex Hanson & Joseph Chan
3D Artists: Terry Shigemitsu, Petrik Watson, Todd Akita, Colin Cromwell, Yvain Gnebro, Joon Seong Lee, Stefano Dubay
Flame: Alex Kolasinski & Chris DeCristo
Compositor: Shawn Berry
Roto: Grover Richardson, Lyndal Heathwood & Maura Alvarez
Editor: Patrick Griffin, Arcade Edit

Music: The Rumor Mill, Josh Ralph
Sound Design: 740 Sound design, Eddie Kim, Andrew Tracy

Final Mix: Lime, Rohan Young, Joel Waters

Posted on Motionographer