Project
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ARES:
Our Greatest Adventure
ARES:
Our Greatest Adventure
Year
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2015
2015
Category
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Direction
Design
Concept Design
Direction
Design
Concept Design
Synopsis
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ARES was not only an extraordinary project because of its size and magnitude, but also because we had an amazing team. The imagery below is a glimpse into the behind the scenes of how we constructed the visual world.
Process
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ARES
It’s always a special moment when someone reaches out to send you praise on what you are most passionate about doing in life. Chris Eyerman of 3AM reached out to me back in early 2015 with a very special project that he knew I couldn’t pass up. Directing this spot with Chris was an incredible experience. Both of our hearts were in it with the same intentions and goals, creating something truly special for all to share.
Process
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Nebula
The nebula look development was one of the first things we set forth to accomplish. Since it contained so many of the key visual elements, we knew that if we could nail the look of this early on in the tasks, then we would have a great guide to help navigate us through the rest of project. Here are some of the frames that the team at Juice, Michael Rigley, and I put together.
Ever since our species
first looked up at the sky...
Epoch is a chance for me
to connect with my childhood dream
of becoming and astronaut.
We've dreamed of
reaching Mars.
Since I was a child,
I dreamed of traveling
to other planets.
That dream became real.
It's one of humanity's
most ambitious undertakings.
Epoch is a chance for me
to connect with my childhood dream
of becoming and astronaut.
Process
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Hermes
The amazing Hermes asset built by the incredible team at Framestore was extremely complicated to integrate into our pipeline, but once we had it set up, we immediately started to see just how powerful this was going to look visually. Since we knew we would be including clips from the actual film, we had to ensure we continued to match that level of reality.
Process
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Holograms
This section of the project was one of my favorites to develop with the team. Michael Rigley developed some very strong visuals that exposed what we were trying to support in the narrative; it really helped set the pace for everything moving forward.
Process
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Title Design
We had a lot of fun with this section of the project. We knew it had to feel space driven and inspired by the designs of NASA, but it also needed to push even further into the future. We settled on the idea of the type’s intersecting lines being the central orbit that would expand the trajectory points connecting each celestial planet.
Process
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Working with Heroes
I think it’s no surprise to say that I am a huge fan of science. I grew up watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and now further enjoy watching Neil deGrasse Tyson’s version with my daughter. I am an avid fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson and constantly listen to his podcast Star Talk. It was an incredible experience to work with someone so prolific and talented.
Credits
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Produced by - 3AM & RSA Films
Directed by - Chris Eyerman and Ash Thorp
Lead Actor - Neil Degrasse Tyson
VFX - Juice
Art Director, Juice - Michal Misinski
Lead Designer + Animator - Michael Rigley
Final Thoughts
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It's always a scary moment to meet one of your heroes in person for the first time, but Neil was instantly welcoming and incredibly wonderful to work with on this shoot. He is filled with an abundance of knowledge, and it was so great that he helped advise and share insight to make the project so successful.