ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY | Reveal COnCEPT

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR, EDITOR, WRITER

Ubisoft wanted to emphasise the new prestige RPG direction of the Assassin’s Creed franchise at the same time as communicating the epic historical fantasy.

To do both, FWS put together a trailer that mashes up elements of modern and ancient epics, with an emotional human focus.

Homer’s Odyssey is about the unexpected paths taken in life; and what is more appropriate for an RPG? 

Using Homer’s poem, I constructed the script from excepts of a wonderful new translation by Emily Wilson.

Visually, we’d just spent a year on Origins, and we were well versed in representations of the ancient world. Odyssey’s heightened mythological feel contrasted with Origins realism. Developing that, I had the team execute a more stylised, impressionistic approach to the images inspired by contemporary Hollywood representations of the ancient world: the look of modern myths.

Our obvious inspiration for imagery was from modern epics such as 300, Braveheart and Gladiator, but we also stole plenty of shots from epic lyrical films such as Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life.

Shooting in slow motion, at golden hour, in epic wides, shallow focus close ups and with a careful control of the colour palette. We showed the variety, scale, excitement and emotion of the game.