Hijinks Crafts EPIC Brand and Film for Vue’s Most-Advanced Experience

Independent creative agency Hijinks has designed a striking new brand, identity and hero film to launch cinema chain Vue's biggest, best and most technically advanced viewing experience.

The cinema chain will roll out EPIC by Vue, a premium large format experience with cutting edge Dolby Atmos sound and HDR by Barco laser projection, across its European estate, beginning in July 2025. The first opening will be in Nottingham at Vue’s new site in The Cornerhouse, followed by Rozzano, Italy. Altogether 11 EPIC screens are expected to open by the end of this year, including one in Vue’s new flagship Amsterdam venue, with further rollout across European territories over the next two years.

Hijinks was tasked with creating and designing a brand for Vue’s new premium large format screen earlier this year, following its appointment as the cinema chain’s Agency of Record in late 2024.

As well as creating a name and impactful brand identity that would stand out in the category among other premium large format offerings, Hijinks created a physical environment that leans into the heightened experience of EPIC. This included indoor and outdoor signage and branding for EPIC screens.

Hijinks also crafted a bold, cinematic hero film to embody the power of the EPIC name and identity. Centred around the campaign line Make the moment EPIC, Hijinks aimed to make the ultimate product demonstration, showcasing the boundary-pushing scale, vibrant colour and immersive sound of the EPIC screen. The result is a thrilling preview of the superior experience that EPIC by Vue delivers.

The 30-second film is a thrilling ride through the logo, taking viewers on a kaleidoscopic journey through a world of colour, light, and immersive sound. It will run in cinemas as a pre-show film, on social media and out-of-home.

Hijinks collaborated with director duo Laser Days, who created the animation through production company Hornet. The result is the lightning-speed journey of a beam of light, as it splits, dances and transforms into iridescent spectrums of colour. To match the incredible visuals, Hijinks worked with sound studio Factory and composer James Radford to design a soundscape that harnesses the true power of the Dolby Atmos speaker system.

Every element of the sound was tested in cinemas to ensure maximum immersive impact. From the rush of the audio whooshing beneath the audience as they fly over horizons, to the sonic trails zipping past their heads to the back of the room, it is held together with a pulsing electronic heartbeat, designed to keep viewers on the edge of their seat right to the end.

“Hijinks have been incredible partners in launching EPIC by Vue, by dramatising that EPIC is the highest quality cinematic experience and the ultimate way to watch any film,” said Shona Gold, executive director of brand, marketing and PR at Vue. “The EPIC branding and campaign sets us apart from our premium large format competitors by demonstrating the product and technology with style and beauty.”

​Marc Allenby, co-founder and chief creative officer at Hijinks, explained, “We set out to create something which truly lived up to the EPIC name. Something that burst with colour, showcased sound and scale, and reflected the power of the EPIC screen itself to totally immerse audiences. We wanted to take the audience on a lightning-speed journey where they can experience Dolby Atmos sound from every side. This is all to give audiences a taste of what’s to come when they watch a film on an EPIC screen—an amuse-bouche, if you like… but with lasers.”

He added, “Getting to collaborate with Laser Days and Hornet in NYC, along with composer James Radford and sound studio Factory, has been a dream for Hijinks, allowing us to create a bold new icon for the big screen.”

Composer James Radford said of the process, “It was extremely exciting to be able to compose a soundtrack that was deliberately created to make the most out of a Dolby Cinema mix. This allowed us to use super wide stereo sounds and to incorporate a whole range of different, unusual and pulsating sounds to help showcase the incredible sound systems available in Vue’s EPIC auditoriums.”

Laser Days duo Jack Wedge and Will Freudenheim added, “Creating the EPIC film was about crafting a world where light becomes the protagonist. We designed these massive, bold prismatic letters that feel majestic and awe-inspiring from the outside. From the inside, we built exhilarating high-speed journeys through luminous tunnels, using colour and light to evoke different cinematic genres. It's the kind of project that gets you excited about pushing the boundaries of what's possible in a cinema space.”