ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS | GAME OF POWER

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR, EDITOR, WRITER

At this point in the Origins campaign a trailer was needed a trailer to highlight the epic story and famous characters you become involved with in the game. Ubisoft wanted an asset that set up the different characters and drama of the story.

The trailer was for release at GamesCom so FWS created a narrative promo trailer based on a single music track in contrast to a the standard bombastic three act trailer assets typically released in that part of the year.

The subsequent metrics showed it was very successful in cutting through the GamesCom noise and boosted pre-sales.

The game and the trailer is about power behind power — and that was key to the visual design of the ad.

We shot interiors with a Carravagio inspired chiaroscuro look, and used similarly contrasty exteriors and battle-scapes inspired by Romantic representations of the Ancient world - particularly John Martin (with a bit of Spartacus, Ben Hur, Gladiator and Raiders of the Lost Ark thrown in for good measure).

In addition, I’m a huge fan of Philip Glass and I’d been looking for a chance to use one of my favourite pieces from his opera Ahknhaten. With all the art references, opera and out of of focus shots coming together, we thought it would be a struggle to get approved, but in the end our client trusted us.

It was a big hit on release at GamesCom and subsequently became a frequent reference for “Can we have a trailer like that…”