PROJECT COPERNICUS CINEMATICS
38 Studios (2011, 2012)
Our team was responsible for providing animated, narrative cut scenes for the Project Copernicus MMO, and our goal was to provide a "2.5D" storybook style. A dedicated team of illustrators would compose the various cinematics in Adobe Photoshop. Those PSDs would then be handed over to editors (such as myself). We would take the layered art, break out into 3D space within After Effects, and create all of the animation. While everything here falls under the category of "work-in-progress" (which is why the timecode is there), this is very indicative of our final style. Art provided by Kindra Haugen, Den Yang, Shannon Denton, Daniel Bradford, and Joe DellaGatta. Also on the team were fellow cinematic editors Ben Coello & Izak Lazarowski, and art director Harley Huggins. They were all absolutely amazing to work with.
RACIAL INTROS: When players were first creating their characters, these informative videos would play, detailing the playable races & offering insites into their character and motivation. These were set to be the more elaborate cinematics, with a great deal of action, camera movement, and depth in the 2.5D style. The following four racial intros all represent various stages of work in progress. For instance, the Ljosalfar Intro is very close to completion, while the Massariol Intro is very much a first pass. Also, you'll hear me doing the VO as the temp narrator, with placeholder music. Still, this gives a very complete look at the unique cinematic style of Project Copernicus.
PICTURE PAGES: These shorter-form cinematics were to be used to introduce quests for the player, and would help further bring the narrative of the game to life. Our intention was to show each picture page as a page from an illuminated manuscript, with a shallower sense of depth to create dramatic shadows across the page. While not as large in scope as the Racial Intros, the Picture Pages provided a more unique challenge in visual storytelling, with their unbroken camera moves, lighting, and 30 second format. Though everything ended in a state of semi-completion (hense the temp audio), this still gives a very clear look at the style we were employing.
This was one of the final things released from 38 Studios. Our team had been hard at work on a promotional trailer for Project Copernicus when the studio was shut down. While the glimpses are brief, it is clear to see what a beautiful game Copernicus was shaping up as. Years later, it is still painful to think of what might have been.
I specifically created the animation for the opening logo and first section (up to where the comet and planet collide). I also handled a number of the star chart shots throughout, as well as the ending shot & game title animation. Additionally, as the trailer was still technically a work in progress, my voice is featured as the temp narrator - in a way, that's probably also my greatest claim to fame in the game industry!
I specifically created the animation for the opening logo and first section (up to where the comet and planet collide). I also handled a number of the star chart shots throughout, as well as the ending shot & game title animation. Additionally, as the trailer was still technically a work in progress, my voice is featured as the temp narrator - in a way, that's probably also my greatest claim to fame in the game industry!