Stephen Panicara - MACHINE ZONE

Machine Zone asked us to create a new logo endtag for their 'Mobile Strike' ads and videos. Once we came up with the concept of turning the logo into a fortress engaged in battle, we then wanted people to be able to see it 20 times and notice something new each time they watched it. Our solution to this was to fill every possible second of the piece with action; a sensory overload of carnage.

I was involved with the project from conception to delivery. I came up with the initial concept of populating the letters with firing guns and spraying the camera with tracer bullets throughout the piece. Due to the quick turnaround, I jumped right into the animatic to lock in the camera moves, animation and timing. Ellerey Gave, our CD, used shots from the animatic as reference to sketch some quick styleframes. Luckily we had access to the actual game models of the guns and vehicles which saved us a lot of time. Mitsuka Thiem did custom modeling on the closing doors and the letterform details, which she then animated. Kenny Lutz helped out with some of the metal texturing and also did all of the smoke and fire sims. I also worked on doing the custom textures in Octane, painting all of the details on the hero letters in Photoshop and UV mapping onto the letters. Benji Thiem sweetened the spot with lighting and setting up the x-particle bullets. The end result is a high-energy, action-packed piece that we felt encapsulated the essence of the game.

Client: Machine Zone
Studio: Capacity
Creative Director: Ellerey Gave
Art Director: Stephen Panicara
Design/Concept: Stephen Panicara, Ellerey Gave
Editing: Stephen Panicara
3D Animation: Stephen Panicara
3D Modelling: Stephen Panicara, Kenny Lutz, Mitsuka Thiem
3D Texturing: Stephen Panicara, Kenny Lutz, Benji Thiem
Effects: Benji Thiem, Stephen Panicara

Lighting/Compositing: Benji Thiem, Stephen Panicara

Sound Design/Music: Echolab