Superfad’s badass PS3 spot

ps3.jpgSuperfad just dropped this….umm super rad spot for Playstation 3. Really solid 3d work. Makes me want to break something.

I had a chance to talk with Superfad and get a little background on this project. Here is what they had to say:

What was the original concept that you received from TBWAChiatDay?

The original concept that TBWA/Chiat/Day approached us with was titled, “PlayStation3 Unleashed. The core notion: The PS3 floats in a white limbo and suddenly and explosively releases its hyperbolic inner-potential. Our intent was to create an ever-changing cluster which formed itself out of the playstation itself. We were charged with the task of highlighting the myriad entertainment possibilities of the PS3 from games, to movies, to social networking etc. This idea of seamless transitions form CG to actual game play was a our goal from the beginning. Like many pitches we presented a wide variety of styles we felt were bold solutions for the scenario. Consequentially, the agency gravitated towards two different styles/concepts and we joined them into one.

Alot of this spot is about getting from the 3d shots of the black playstation universe to game footage, and the majority are done in a very seamless method. This must have effected your direction for the 3d world, would you mind explaining some of your pre-planning for these scenes?

The creative process for this project was happily organic. Portions of the sequence, specifically the transitions, were dictated by the actual game-play footage supplied to us. As the editors of the spot, we collaborated with the agency and game developers to craft scenes that integrated seamlessly.

What was the production behind this piece, also how did you get to this end concept and style?

The production of this spot was done using a combination of Maya and After Effects while the crucial editorial process lived in Final Cut Pro. We began with our basic concepts and blocked out the shots using simple shapes focusing mainly on the camera movement and transitions. In this way, we created an rough animatic with a specific edit. After that, we added our finished and highly-detailed models to the 3D compositions. One of our main challenges was creating an environment that was black, glossy and extremely energetic yet still readable. Progressively throughout, designers and animators introduced more and more engaging ideas and elements right up to the last week. As each scene improved, it created a certain amount of one-ups-manship among the team. Each moment of the piece had to live up to the next. Our evaluation of the success of the entire piece was extremely harsh and quite demanding. Thankfully, our partners at Chiat welcomed this organic process, and were quite supportive as they saw it coming to life bit by bit.

About the author

Jon Saunders

/ www.jonsaunders.tv
internet surfer/designer extraordinaire

19 Comments

jasfish

wow .. pretty jaw-dropping ..

loved the fly-in to the city and transition to the driving scene .. flawless.

MakingMothersProud

Awesome 3d and animation and in-game footage integration. It all stitches together well. Could have done with a little more subtlety on the song, though.

MakingMothersProud

Let me revise, if this is a trade show piece i think the audio would be really effective, but for broadcast it would be overkill.

freebertbrown

Are you ef’n kidding me? This thing is nuts. I watch everythign on this site everyday and this is the craziest most impressive piece i’ve ever seen. I can’t believe they are able to produce and control all the aspects.

bicycleman

Take a look at the 30 sec version of this piece. You’ll love high energy camera movies.
https://superfad.com/player.php?project=96&item=191

freqwhensee

tight!

bicycleman

I would like to say this one more time. THIS IS soooooo Fun to watch!

Great JOB superFAD

sc

concept is spot on, just what PS3 needs.

Simon Robson

Yes, that’s a really solid piece. Very cool cameras and integration of footage. I’d like to know about the size of the crew and the production time-line. Any chance of an update jon?

kurt

machine gun rad

KGB

Yea, an update on this piece would be cool.

I enjoy the complexity of this spot. There are so many new elements introduced in almost every frame(game footage excluded), this must have been ALOT of work.
Great job.

david

Everyone and their mother pitched on this job… Very nice to see superfad deliver.

n0saj 2600

wow. amazing. too bad there isn’t much to save the poor sinking ps3… i actually feel bad for Sony, they have had two major failure of systems (psp, ps3) in a row. i wouldn’t be surprised if the ps3 died off by next year (like the Dreamcast… most powerful system for its time, most graphically advanced system for its time, also the most expensive for its time. and it died quickly.)

if there is anything (besides a few actual good games for the damn thing!) that will save the ps3, its would have to be advertisement this exciting.

david

Factually n0saj, the Sega Dreamcast died because of international user piracy destroying software sales and developer sale expectations (lowering budgets, research, and ultimately overall quantity and quality control of releases) , which is an entirely different issue than the psp or ps3 face. It also did not die quickly, the last Dreamcast game was released last year in Japan…. seven years after it’s launch on “9.9.1999.” They have also recently started selling Dreamcasts again in Japan via the online store with the most recent titles bundled.

The thing you got right though is that this spot is wonderful! :)

THA_DON

mmmm, not too shabby. well done Fad

suprememoves

my god was that intense.

Pocky

n0saj 2600 – you call the PSP a failure when it sells 40,000 a month in Japan alone? This may not be brilliant but it certainly isn’t failing. And I would be VERY suprised if the PS3 died off next year with the long list of exclusive games that are coming out along with those that are already has out. Please do a little research into what you’re talking about before you comment.

kmfix

Really great work! I’d be proud if I worked on that!

beta_test

I prefer the Wii commercials, they ‘touch’ people. I am not comparing them on a graphic POV, but as commercials been effective. Sony communication is either too cold.

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