SyFy House of Imagination
Say what you will about SyFy’s new name, but the House of Imagination trailer does a fantastic job getting the rebrand off to an epic start. With vfx by the Moving Picture Company and direction by 4Creative’s Brett Foraker, the entire two-minute video is an inviting trip to a place I genuinely wish I could visit.
The companion website for the House of Imagination (also created by MPC) teases me with just such a wish, but ends up being a collection of mini-games and behind-the-scenes featurettes—and that’s a pretty sweet consolation prize.
It also points to SyFy’s understanding of its core audience. The inclusion of these making-of gems starring the cast members of SyFy’s shows is essentially like putting DVD extras on the web—something that the decidedly cultish fans of SyFy’s programming will respond to. When the name change was announced, I was concerned that SyFy would abandon the geekier clicks of its viewership, but if House of Imagination is any indication of the future, it appears the opposite is true. That’s good for the fans, and that’s good for the brand.
Incidentally, a high-dollar project like House of Imagination underscores something I heard more than once at Promax|BDA this year: commercial projects aren’t coming through the doors of studios and prodcos as often as they used to, and there’s something of a broadcast design renaissance starting to take form. The new broadcast work, however, is deeply tied to the web and is focused more on branded narrative experiences than IDs and show packages.
With viewers watching an increasing amount of programming on the web (and through web-enabled technologies), that makes perfect sense to me. As platforms edge closer together, like tectonic plates of media, it seems only natural that they will collide, forming new landscapes and, hopefully, new reasons to take creative risks.
For more on the SyFy rebrand, check out Proud Creative’s portfolio, which encompasses the entire new branding scheme.
Credits
Director: Brett Foraker
Creative director: Tom Tagholm
Executive Producer: Shananne Lane
Business Director: Olivia Browne
Producer: Roberts Jones
Production Designer : Tino Schaedler
Director of Photography: Larry Fong
Editor: Adam Rudd
Sound design and composer: Rich Martin
From MPC:
Jay Lichtman – Executive Producer
Paula Da Costa – Producer
Marcus Wood – VFX Supervisor (2D Lead)
Steve Moncur – VFX Supervisor (3D Lead)
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 11:58 am |
sure thats not the new harry potter trailer ?
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 12:33 pm |
I bought it. That was pretty magical. Great work all around. If the new SyFy can make good on this promise they’ll be fine.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 1:31 pm |
some really cool stuff here i gotta say. That graffitii is awesome too..
now they just need a new website and they are all set.
oh, and the logo indents are awesome too.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 2:21 pm |
WOW. That was TERRIBLE…. are u kidding? they just had to include “skateboarding and graffiti” in there to get the “kids” interested… that was like watching some terrible vodka commercial… FAIL.
Friday, July 10th 2009 at 3:32 pm |
Sure it is there because it is “hip” nowadays, still, I like the look of it.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 3:40 pm |
It looked fine but it felt *too* cheesey.. Can’t help but think they’re trying a little too hard to break away from their own identity. And yes, the new name is kind of ridiculous.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 3:41 pm |
That was great! Love the MC Escher twisting stairs part and the Viewfinder part. Very cool.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 8:54 pm |
Looks like the agency won that one. Great execution, however, of the formerly-edgy, now-deflated hipster movement of self. Maybe the animals could hold balloons that resemble focus group captains or something.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 9:36 pm |
It’s a beautiful spot. Only thing is I’m an occasional watcher of SyFy shows, but I hardly recognize any of those people. Seems like the campaigns that have alot of actors only really work if you know who those actors are. Anyway, just my two cents. Great execution!
Wednesday, July 8th 2009 at 10:36 am |
incredibly beautiful spot, that will unfortunately have little impact on an incredibly stupid business decision.