Hasta La Creative!

Earlier this month, Ant Farm released a gameplay trailer for the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Now, with less than a week until the game’s release, 72andSunny have unveiled their live action trailer, starring Taylor Kitsch, entitled “Discover Your Power.”

The 90-second spot, directed by Peter Berg, offers a slight tweak on the usual live action gaming trailer, putting the viewer in the first-person perspective as they accompany Kitsch through a series of intense battles with enemies that display how the futuristic setting changes the nature of the game. It’s a welcome change of pace, and makes a lot of sense for a first-person shooter, although it can be a little bit of a dizzying experience. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Epic Night Out,” the splashy new 90-second Call of Duty: Ghosts spot from 72andSunny for Activision, is indeed epic, and easily riffs on the four-guys-who-have-fun-in-danger motif made popular by The Hangover. There are a few celebrity cameos, a crumbling Las Vegas set, and classic music, Sinatra’s “Live Until I Die.” Very epic. But no baby, though. Instead, the four heroes and their dog travel from desert wasteland, to cityscape, to outer space, and then to a frozen tundra. With the music and quick editing, it’s hard to pay attention to anything else.

I’m all for first-person shooters, and I don’t think they are ruining kids. If this spot were for the U.S. Armed Forces, that would be different. But, it’s worth pointing out that guns, explosions, apocalyptic Vegas, Frank Sinatra, and Megan Fox is way past the boiling point of glorying violence for a TV spot. That’s sensory overload for all of the juiced up gamer-guys who are going to sit in the basements and pretend not to pee in empty soda bottles. It’s also brilliant misdirection.  And if not for the Grand Theft Auto V ads, this would be the best video game spot I’ve ever seen. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.