Characters That Matter

Microsoft Xbox

With the richest stories and most compelling characters, this is the biggest year for Xbox games.

As a follow up to the E3 “Jump Ahead” film and the “Greatest Games” TV Commercial we created with Ayzenberg and Xbox last year, we’re back at it with “Characters That Matter,” for E3 2016. This film introduces a new lineup of characters and stories exclusive to Xbox in 2016.

Evolving the Campaign

The challenge was to create the next iteration in the film series that passed the torch from Xbox’s most recognizable characters onto the next generation of heroes. To introduce this new lineup into the Xbox universe, we took the familiar “double exposure” visual aesthetic we developed for the previous films, and created a whole new way to move through it.

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Using continuous camera moves and seamless transitions, the film flies through the vignettes of each character – revealing the rich worlds that they come from, and shed light on the stories that make them characters that matter.

Storyboards

This early storyboard sequence mapped out the action, camera moves, transitions, and colors of each key scene.  The goal was to make each game stand out on their own, while finding a dynamic way to weave all of the stories together.

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Credits

  • CLIENT

    Microsoft Xbox

  • AGENCY

    Ayzenberg

  • CREATIVES

    Craig McNary (Global Integrated Marketing, Microsoft Devices and Studios), Gary Goodman (Creative Director, Ayzenberg), Andy Mitchell (Associate Creative Director, Ayzenberg)

  • PRODUCER

    Mehera Bey (Producer, Ayzenberg), Tara Cheitlin (Producer, Ayzenberg)

  • PRODUCTION COMPANY

    Blind

  • CREATIVE DIRECTOR

    Matthew Encina

  • DIRECTOR

    Matthew Encina

  • EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

    Scott Rothstein

  • POST PRODUCER

    Bridget Brennan

  • ART DIRECTOR

    Andrew Tan, Matthew Encina

  • DESIGNERS

    Evan Viera, James Levy, Paul Kim, Rachelle Moon

  • TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

    Juan Carlos Cuadra

  • 2D ANIMATORS

    Aaron Knapp, Andrew Tan, Marco Campobasso, Ryan Kaplan, Yosh Bolivar, Daniel Zhang, Bara Kwon

  • 3D ANIMATORS

    Juan Carlos Cuadra, Yas Koyama, Sarah Wolfe, Richard E. DeForno, Mike Colarik, Val Sinlao

  • LIGHTERS

    Juan Carlos Cuadra, Yas Koyama, Mike Colarik, Val Sinlao

  • RIGGERS

    Michael Altman, Richard E. DeForno

  • STORYBOARD ARTIST

    Evan Viera

  • MATTE PAINTERS

    Evan Viera

  • SOFTWARE

    Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya, C4d