72andSunny Teases Call of Duty: Black Ops III with ‘Ember’

72andSunny launched a cinematic teaser trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, entitled “Ember.”

Beginning with the message “Mankind’s greatest mistake will be its inability to control the technology it has created, the spot, which runs almost three minutes long, follows technological advancements from the athletic doping scandals of the recent past to the year 2065 when the U.S. government is accused of weaponizing human beings with tech like DNA enhancement and retinal chips. “Ember” aims to pique viewers’ interest by providing just a glimpse of what is to be expected from the game’s sci-fi storyline, ending with a very brief look at what appears to be in-game footage.

“Today’s live action creative asset helps to establish the universe, while asking viewers the provocative question, how far would you go? All in the context of human performance, but at the trade-off of a portion of your humanity,” said Tim Ellis, chief marketing officer, Activision. “Its aim is to drive curiosity and discussion, further pulling fans into the fiction and set the stage for the gameplay world premiere reveal.”

The full gameplay reveal in question is scheduled for April 26th, and we can expect more from 72andSunny hyping the release of the latest addition to Activision’s popular franchise before the game’s release later this year.

Credits:

Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Executive Officer: John Boiler
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Jarvis
Executive Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director, Writer: Josh Fell
Creative Director, Designer: Rey Andrade
Lead Writer: Jed Cohen
Sr. Writer: Kako Mendez
Sr. Designer: Robbin Ingvarsson
Strategy Director: John Graham
Sr. Strategist: Daniel Teng
Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Executive Producer: Dan Ruth
Producer: Shannon Worley
Production Coordinator: Alissa Stevens
Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Brand Director: Simon Hall
Brand Manager: Brian Kim
Brand Coordinator: Jack Young
Business Affairs Director: Amy Jacobsen
Business Affairs Director: Alex Lebosq
Business Affairs Manager: Kelly Ventrelli
Business Affairs Manager: Beau Thomason
Business Affairs Manager: Casey Brown

72andSunny Gets Real for Activision’s Guitar Hero Live

72andSunny was tasked with creating a trailer for Guitar Hero Live, the first new entry in the Guitar Hero franchise in five years, and aimed with actually putting viewers in the action.

Following a nod to Spinal Tap-esque backstage shenanigans, “It’s About To Get Real,” which is shot to give viewers a first-person perspective, puts the viewer right on stage in front of a live crowd. Created using additional footage shot with director Giorgio Testi and co-director Jamie Jackson from the live action shoots used for the game, the trailer assures viewers “This isn’t what it ‘feels like’ to play the new Guitar Hero. This is the new Guitar Hero.” Viewers are treated to the kind of audience reactions gamers can expect when they perform poorly in the game (We’re not sure why someone would bring a sign reading “You Suck” to a concert they payed to attend, but there you have it) before giving them a taste of what it’s like when things go right. At the end of the spot, 72andSunny introduces the game’s two modes, GH Live, which viewers have already experienced, and GHTV, which lets you play along with a continually updated library of music videos. The trailer should definitely get Guitar Hero fans psyched for the game’s fall release, as it gives viewers an idea of the kind of radical changes they can expect from the series following its long absence.

“The creative center of both Guitar Hero Live and the trailer for the game is about bringing to life the visceral thrill and terror of being up there in front of thousands of people,” said Tim Ellis, chief marketing officer of Activision Publishing.

Credits:

Client: Activision Publishing
Product: Guitar Hero Reveal Trailer
Title: It’s About to Get Real

Activision
Chief Executive Officer Activision Publishing:  Eric Hirshberg
Chief Marketing Officer Activision Publishing:  Tim Ellis
VP of Global Brand Marketing, Head of Digital:  Jonathan Anastas
Consumer Marketing Manager: Orlando Baeza
Consumer Marketing Manager: Karen Starr

72andSunny
Partner, Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Partner, Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Jarvis
Group Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director/Writer: Tim Wolfe
Creative Director/Designer: Peter Vattanatham,
Lead Designer: Garret Jones
Lead Writer: Evan Brown
Designer: Ryan Dols
Writer: Jack Lagomarsino
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Film Producer: Kara Fromhart
Business Affairs Director: Amy Jacobsen
Business Affairs Manager: Kelly Ventrelli
Junior Business Affairs Manager: Amy Shah
Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Brand Director: Torie Gleicher
Brand Coordinator: Laura Black
Group Strategy Director: Bryan Smith
Group Strategy Director: John Graham

Production Company – Pulse Films UK
Director: Giorgio Testi
Co-Director: Jamie Jackson of Freestyle Games
Director of Production: Claire Wingate
Line Producers: John Bannister & Isabel Davis

Game Developer – Freestyle Games
Jamie Jackson – Co-Director (co-director under Production and Creative Director under FSG)
Jonathan Napier – Projects Director
Mike Rutter – Art Manager
Joel Davey – Producer
Gareth Morrison – Assistant Art Director
Andy Grier – Lead Audio Designer
Jon Newman – Senior Audio Designer
Mike McLafferty – Audio Designer / Licensed Equipment Liaisons
Neil Watts – Lead Animator
Jason Pickthall – Lead Concept Artist
Phil Bale – Lead Environment Artist
Pete Nicholson – Lead Character Artist
David Moulder – Lead Technical Artist
Neil Dodd – Lead UI Artist

Editorial – Spotwelders
Editor: Robert Duffy
Assistant Editor: Sophie Kornberg
Executive Producer: Carolina Sanborn
Producer: Lisa English

Game CG & VFX- Framestore UK
Pedro Sabrosa – VFX supervisor
Alan Woods – CG supervisor
Russell – Horth – Compositing supervisor
Kate Windibank – Compositing supervisor
Robin Reyer – Lead Technical Director
Liz Oliver – Senior Producer
Helen Kok – Line Producer

Color Grade – Framestore UK
Colorist: Edwin Metternich

VFX & Online Finishing – Framestore LA
Executive Producer: James Razzall
Senior Producer: James Alexander
Production Manager: Eric Kimelton
Flame Artist US: Bruno De la Calva

Sound Design – Human
Sound designer: Gareth Williams
Producer: Jonathan Sanford

Audio Mix – Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan & Jessica Locke
Engineer: Zac Fisher
Assistant engineer: Kevin McAlpine

Logo Mnemonic Animation – Blind
Tobin Kirk – Executive Producer
Amy Knerl – Head of Production
Greg Gunn – Creative Director
Scott Rothstein – Producer
Daniel Zhang – Animator
Shawn Kim – Animator
Henry Pak – Animator
Ash Wagers – Compositor
Lawrence Wyatt – Designer
Ayla Kim – Designer

Logo Mnemonic Sound Design – Barking Owl
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Head of Production: Whitney Fromholtz
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett

72andSunny Wants You to ‘Discover Your Power’ with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

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…)

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72andSunny Goes Big with Trailer for Activision’s ‘Destiny’

72andSunny has just released a live action trailer for Activision’s new game Destiny, from the creators of the popular Halo franchise, which will be released on September 9th.

72andSunny and Activision went big for the trailer, teaming up with Academy Award winning VFX studio Digital Domain, Academy Award nominated FX studio Legacy Effects, and director Joseph Kosinski, who created most of the worlds for the ad in-camera, shooting at locations in Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The spot follows the adventures of Fireteam as they attempt to reclaim locations in our solar system from alien invaders. Levitating AI character Ghost is voiced by Peter Dinklage (who also voices the character in the game) and the spot mixes humor, action and Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Immigrant Song” to hype up the game and give a sense of its feel without any game footage. (more…)

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72andSunny is Back with New Spot Promoting ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Downloadable Content

This past October we covered 72andSunny’s exhaustive campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty: Ghosts. Now, 72andSunny is back with a new campaign promoting Call of Duty: Ghosts‘ new downloadable content pack, Onslaught.

72andSunny’s long spot for Onslaught, entitled “CODnapped,” imagines a task force, led by a CODnapper played by Stephen Graham of Boardwalk Empire, sent out to kidnap men from such terrible duties as work, child rearing, and spending time with their significant other, so that they can be brought to a room with comfy chairs and snacks to play Call of Duty. The elaborately imagined scheme runs for over three minutes, before the rest of the spot is devoted to Onslaught gameplay. It’s kind of a clever (although ridiculous and entirely sexist) concept that highlights gamers’ desire to spend time with the new content free of any real-life distractions. And although the spot is quite dragged out, at a 4:51 run length, fans of the franchise have responded. The video was uploaded to YouTube yesterday, and has already racked up almost 400,000 views. By the time of Onslaught‘s January 28th release, it could top the one million mark. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Activision, 72andSunny Bring the House Down with ‘Epic Night Out’

“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.

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‘Call of Duty’ Goes Domestic in UK Spot ‘Faboom’

Another day, another commercial from the Call of Duty: Ghosts marketing blitzkrieg. “Faboom,” a 40-second spot for UK audiences comes from 72andSunny and shows regular folk reenacting their favorite moments from the game at work, out to dinner, even in the doctor’s office during a proctology exam – well played, 72.

The spot comes a week after Eminem premiered his “Survival” music video that also acts as a Call of Duty promo. “Faboom” doesn’t have any white rappers – however, most of the people in the commercial happen to be white – but despite the lack of celebrity punch, the energy and occasional humor gives this ad a universal feel that should work whether televised or shown online. The clip evokes a bit of the Dave Chappelle skit about a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto. Clearly, the sentiment has aged well, and appealing to the human connection to video games, rather than just showing out-of-context graphics for 30 seconds, seems to be the new go-to technique for gaming ads. Call of Duty: Ghosts comes out September 5. Credits after the jump.

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