The spot follows lead character Nathan Drake through a dense jungle into an overgrown, rundown fort, where he coolly confronts a group of mercenaries loading their weapons …
Nolan North who plays Nathan Drake in the PlayStation game was involved at several stages, including working with Naughty Dog, the game's developers, and the creation of the commercial at The Mill. His live-action provided a basis for all animation in both game and promo, and Nolan himself was a great help to Joshua. "He could perform the tasks we needed for the promo to keep true to the fictional character."
The jungle teems with barely visible detail, such as skulls, bugs, even a skeleton chained to the wall of a tunnel. "Building a lively jungle environment was a challenge because of the amount of detail we had to put in for it to look realistic," says Yann. "And we had to fit all the action into a 24-second spot while building tension and good storytelling, but it was very satisfying once it all came together."
Agency: TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles
Producer: Mark Johnston
Creative Director: Doug Mukai
Creatives: Chris Dutton, Scott Wilson
Production: The Mill
Director: Yann Mabille
Editing: The Mill
Editor: Eric Grove
Edit Assist: Dave Hsin
VFX & Design: The Mill
VFX Producers: Victoria Kendall, Camila De Biaggi, Asher Edwards (3D)
2D Lead Artist: Angus Kneale
3D Lead Artist: Joshua Merck
2D Artist: Cole Schreiber
3D Artists: Tomas Fontes, Salles Ben, Smith Andrew, Proctor Wyatt Savarese, Andres Eguiguren, Yorie Kumalasari, Keith Kim Jong Jin Choi, Vincent Thomas, Steve Kahwati, Justin Zurrow, Ohad Bracha
Art Department: Elizabeth Koenig