We collaborated with the talented teams from Sega of America and Petrol Advertising in bringing the Persona 3 Reload - SEAL YOUR FATE" Live-Action Trailer With Aidan Gallagher to life on our XR stage in Burbank, California.
Our challenge was to create a compelling live-action trailer for "Persona 3 Reload - SEAL YOUR FATE" that not only captures the essence of the game but also resonates with the target audience. The objectives were to showcase the intensity and depth of the game's universe, highlight the transformative journey of the protagonist, and generate excitement and anticipation among fans. The target audience includes both existing fans of the Persona series and newcomers to the franchise who are drawn to immersive storytelling and captivating visuals.
We received the storyboard and animatics from our client, and transformed them into virtual pre-visualization by building the environments in Unreal Engine. This step offered the client a clearer understanding of the project's visual direction. Upon approval, we proceeded to in-camera tests, demonstrating how the visuals would translate to real-world filming on our stage. Pre-visualization is an immensely important step when working in virtual production environments, to make sure our client’s visions are represented accurately, and to give them a preview into what the scenes will look like on camera.
We used an LED wall stage to display the background graphics. We placed our custom treadmill, on top of a turnstile, in front of the LED wall to give the illusion of our talent walking between each scene. Since our talent was strapped onto a harness to ensure optimal safety throughout filming, we made adjustments to the background graphics so that we could remove the harness rope from the scene.
Our talent performed on a treadmill that was modified for remote control using a Raspberry Pi running the QNX operating system. Custom modifications were made to the treadmill by removing its original control panel, user interface, and sensor systems. These were replaced by our QNX software solution that simulated these functions using the Raspberry Pi along with our custom control panel. To control the treadmill, we integrated a Stream Deck as the primary remote. This allowed us to adjust the speed, incline, and deceleration protocols easily and at a safe distance during the performance.
To meet the challenge, we utilized cutting-edge technology, including LED walls, motion capture, Red Spy camera tracking, Stype XR, and a custom built treadmill, to bring the world of "Persona 3 Reload - SEAL YOUR FATE" to life in a visually stunning and immersive way.
We used our custom DMX lighting system to achieve the most realistic lighting sequences. We programmed our DMX board and ran our Unreal Engine levels through it and created a sequence that perfectly matched up with each scene on our LED wall.
This step was highly important because dynamic lighting was used to transition from scene to scene in rapid succession, and each scene was visually different, thus requiring a new lighting set up.
Our production day ran very smoothly due to our rigorous pre production planning as well as the talented groups of people collaborating throughout the day. Every single person on set played a vital role in helping things run as efficiently as possible, especially considering all of the different moving parts that were necessary in this shoot.
Motion capture technology was employed to achieve the most realistic movement of our talent. Markerless motion capture was employed throughout the real time shoot to capture our talent’s movements without disrupting the visual composition of the scene.
We used traditional motion capture with markers to create the character motions seen in the animated portion of the video. Our Mocap technician had our stunt actor suited up with tracking and monitored his movements to ensure they matched our clients vision, which included replicating the movements of Persona characters within the gameplay. Body movements had to be extremely precise and controlled, which can be difficult when flying through the air immediately after running on a treadmill, but our teamwork made this daunting task as simple and safe as possible.
Our senior in-house editor, Phillipp Litvin, created the main one minute long spot. In addition to Phillipp’s work, the Petrol Advertising editorial team worked on the cut down edits. This process involved seamlessly integrating CG elements into the timeline and ensuring precise transitions between shots to synchronize elements like the talent's arm movements, using shots that were all filmed separately.
In a very short timeline, we undertook the challenge of meticulously crafting a model that faithfully captured the essence of our talent within the distinctive style of Persona 3 characters. Using Maya's advanced modeling techniques, we studied the iconic features of Persona 3 characters, ensuring every aspect was tailored to mirror the unique attributes of our talent.
Our team was able to continue to craft the character animation by using a combination of rigging, skinning, and cloth simulation techniques within Maya. We made a custom rig for the character animation and used the motion capture data from our stunt performers to breathe life into our animated scenes. Every detailed movement seen from the animated character such as hits or poses to facial expressions was custom crafted by our team. This process ensured that every movement was accurately captured and translated into lifelike animation.
Our director, Joe Grayem, collaborated closely with our camera animation artist, Veronica Flint, to craft the dynamic movements of the virtual camera within our animated environment. Much like directing a scene on a physical set, they determined aspects such as depth of field, focal points, zoom dynamics, framing width, incorporation of camera shakes, strategic zooming, and the synchronization of camera movements with the characters' actions
We worked closely with the talented 3D team at Petrol Advertising on the texturing, lighting, and compositing of our character animation. We used Unreal Engine to replicate the look of our talent as closely as possible.
Our team was able to bring in game 3D elements from the Persona world and incorporate them in between scenes. These elements allowed for a more seamless transition from scene to scene, fostering a sense of continuity and immersion.
The Persona franchise is renowned for its richly detailed and visually striking art style, so tying in these elements added to the overall cohesiveness of the spot.
AV Coordinator: Julie JohnsonScissor Films Production Team:
Producer: Sam Malko @samalko
Director: Joe Grayem @joe_grayem
UPM: Shaina Vinson @shaivinson
VP Tech:Tyler Mammoser @tyler.mammoser
VP Tech:Jon Penvose @penvosejon
DP: Michael Stine @michaelstine
1st AC: Joe Tomcufcik @joe_tomcufcik
2nd AC: Adrian Varner @adriandangelovarner
Editor / DIT: Phil Litvin @philipplitvin
BTS: Dylan O'Donovan @_dylanodonovan_
PA: Rose St. Hilaire @rose.lani
Gaffer: Chad McClellan @chad_mcclellan
Best Electric: Robert Orozco
Key Grip: Franky Blanco
Best Grip: Stephen Krajeski @lightscamerasteve
Sound: Kyle Kaesemeyer
Stunts Coord: Josh Tessier @josh.tessier
Stunts Tech: Joe Perez @ninjoeperez
Stand-in: Andrew Seifer
Board Op: Zane Blanchard @zane_blanchard
HMU: Suejean Naeem
Wardrobe: Ksenia Sharonova @ksenia_sharonova
SFX: Alex Cohen @alexanderstanley1022
VFX: Scissor Films
Post EP: Sam Malko
Post Producer: Philipp Litvin
Editor: Philipp Litvin
Color: Alex Ver
Camera Animation: Veronica Flint
Modeling: Zuzana
COO: Alan Hunter
Co-Dir. & Creative Dir: John Conway
Creative Director: Phil Eichenauer
Sr. AV Producer: Rodrigo Galavis
Account Executive: George Miranda
Writer: Alex Daltas
Sr. Brand Manager: Isabella Weiss
Brand Director: Fernando Bustamante
VP, Brand and Product Marketing: Ryan Lacina
Associate Brand Manager, ATLUS: Rebecca Chang
