Unit Complete Work on 'Defiance' Online Game

The eagerly awaited new massively multiplayer online game ‘Defiance’ from Trion is released on April 2nd, followed by a TV series from Syfy and NBCUniversal, which debuts across the pond on April 15th and in the U.K on April 16th. The TV series and game have a combined budget of $105million. The game itself contains voice work from some of the artists in the TV series as well as incorporating events from within the show as the plot develops making it a truly transmedia experience. The highly cinematic trailer for the game was released on youtube back in February and has had nearly 2 million hits to date.

 

Directed by Jim Weedon for London based hybrid agency ichi the trailer is a five minute live action/VFX film and part of the overall marketing campaign for Trion's new game for XBOX 360, PS3 and PC. It contains vast amounts of high-end 3D creature modeling and animation and attention to detail on the project was imperative.  Although Unit’s creative team had the gaming assets as reference material, the trailer needed to raise things to a new, photo real level, challenge Unit were more than happy to meet head on.

 

Unit’s Head of 2D and Creative lead Jon Berridge explains, "We wanted to establish with Jim the look and behaviour of the creatures, how these ‘hellbugs’ explode out of the ground, the way the environment reacts to them, what happens when they get hit.”  

 

Head of Nuke Stirling Archibald  offered VFX supervision during the five-day shoot in Austin, Texas. “We worked with the Director and DoP from day one, studying boards, treatment and script. Each frame was shot with post in mind.” 3D lead Robin Ernestrom adds “First we had to get the detail of the hellbugs right. Are they made out of shell or do they have a Rhino-esque skin for example? In total there were over 200 simulations. Debris, dust, sand and smoke, all different elements having to work together seamlessly.”

 

Perhaps the greatest challenge was turning around a project of this scale in the timeframe provided, and coordinating all of the different elements to ensure the timescale was achievable. This is where Unit’s unique infrastructure came into it’s own. “Having offline, audio, Flame, 3D and grade all under one roof meant that we could turn a three to six month project around in six weeks” says Stirling. Post Producer Jon Murray adds “Being able to access any element of the project from anywhere in the building at any given time was an enormous help.”

 

Graded by Colourist Simon Astbury, the weather proved challenging, which was quite unusual given the location. “Highly variable lighting meant a lot of additional work. As well as changeable weather, the shoot days were long, resulting in considerable light differentials. We went for a bleach by-pass look which gave the piece a very filmic, other-worldly feel.”  

 

Audio Post company ‘The Mix’, also housed in the same building worked on the sound. “We mixed it more like a film than a commercial.” Says Head of Audio Nigel Manington. “As with all stages of the project the hellbugs proved the greatest challenge. What do they sound like when they scuttle for example? We played around with a combination of walrus’, chickens, pigs, jays, a snake hiss and a lion! Not to mention all the layers of chains, doors and footsteps.”  Senior mixer Chris Southwell, who worked closely with Nigel adds “Good sound keeps you in the visual reality, bad sound rips you straight out of it. Getting the gravity of the sound, the depth, was essential to the overall hyper-reality of the project”.

 

Unit’s MD Adam Luckwell concludes, “All of the creative teams at Unit are used to working seamlessly together. There is of course a technical infrastructure backbone but each team is run entirely by people who are at the top of their individual craft. We have proven that we can create high-end CGI output with workflows and systems in place that hugely benefit our clients, particularly with tight deadlines. We are all very proud of what we have done here and look forward to working on more exciting projects like ‘Defiance’ in the future”.