Description
Final Frontier produced a supercharged mixed-media sporting showcase for NetEase title Naraka: Bladepoint, featuring the game’s heroes furiously competing in eleven events, all disciplines at the concurrent real-life Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Directed by Paulo Garcia and brought to life by Zombie studio, the film is a blistering mixed media mash-up of live action, 3D CG characters, traditional Chinese-style 2D ink-style animation, and paper-cut stop-motion.
Based on a concept by Shanghai agency Spark, the film enlists Naraka’s most iconic characters to do battle in the sporting arena and help shed light on familiar events like Squash, Dragon Boat, and Ju-jitsu, as well as more obscure disciplines, like Kabaddi, Kurash, and Sepaktakraw. Each scene is accompanied by information about the sport’s origin and history in the Asia-wide competition.
The 2023 Asian Games were particularly notable for video gamers, as the first in which e-sports have been included among the 40 disciplines, with players of the martial arts driven Naraka: Bladepoint no doubt paying special attention to the real life Wushu event.
Final Frontier executive producer Eric Zheng says:
“Authenticity was key for all aspects of the project. We studied extensive references of each sport to ensure we were getting the specific actions and moves absolutely right. Of course, Naraka is predominantly a Wushu title, so we worked particularly closely with the client to nail those scenes, sharing references, and acting out moves over con-calls.”
Zheng adds,
“With the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the film needed a distinct Chinese flavor. That gave us the chance to explore not one, but two traditional art styles, namely ink style, and paper cut. The latter was particularly exciting, giving us a rare opportunity to get physical and animate in hand-made stop motion. We had fun throwing in a lot of Chinese elements and easter eggs about Hangzhou into those 2D sections.”
Naraka: Bladepoint is a battle royale PC game launched in August 2021 by 24 Entertainment under technology company NetEase. Taking place against the backdrop of the battle between two ancient gods, the game tells the story of heroes from across the world coming to the legendary Morus Isle to compete for the immortal mask.
The film launched on the eve of the Asian Games’ opening ceremony. It marks the latest in an ongoing collaboration between Final Frontier and NetEase, with the companies previously teaming up to produce two short cel animated Naraka: Bladepoint promo films (Crimson & Winter, and Showdown) and a trailer for the Naraka Championship international esports tournament.
This professional campaign titled 'Naraka: Bladepoint - Asian Games' was published in China in January, 2024. It was created for the brand: NetEase Games, by ad agency: Final Frontier. This Design and Film media campaign is related to the Gaming and Sports industries and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted 11 months ago by Executive Producer: Chris Colman of Final Frontier.
Credits
Client: 24 Entertainment, Netease
Executive Producers: Wu Zong, Yu Yu, Ma Xiaobo
Art Directors: Sun Jun, Qiu Min, Ma Xiaobo
Production Coordinator: Wu Zong, Xu Wenqian
Production Company: Final Frontier
Executive Producer: Chris Colman, Gus Karam, Julieta Zajaczkowski, Eric Zheng
Executive Creative Director: Claus Cibils
Project Manager: Ella Wang, Yeeman Lin
Head of Production: Mary Antonieta Lopez
Creative Team: Agustina Kröl, Natalia Fernandez, Sid Osna
Sound Design: Facu Capece
Script: Spark
Production: Zombie Studio
Director: Paulo Garcia
Executive Producer: Natalia Gouvea
Executive Creative Director: Daniel Salles
Producer Director: André Carvalho
Art Director: André Zendron
CGI Director: Leandro Marcelino CGI Technical Director: Wesley Oliveira
CGI Technical Consultant: Isaac Buzzola
Agenda Coordinator: Kira Nayana
Account Services: Gabriela Leal, Stephanie Wang
Storyboard and Animatic: Saulo Brito
Concept Artist: André Zendron, Anna Caiado, Katan Walker, Ricardo Riamonde
Lookdev: Claudio Junior, Giovanni Kososki, Ricardo Alves, Camilo Franco, Lélio Alves, Alexandre Trevisan
Lighting: Letícia Fagundes, Claudio Junior, Giovanni Kososki
Model: Raul Sales, Ricardo Alves, Alisson Perin, Vitor Semeguhini, Camilo Franco, Enrique Pedretti
Environment: Ale Barbosa
VFX: Gabriel Marcondes, Lucas Amaral, Marco Melantonio, Sacha Carletti
Rig: Marcos Leite 3D Animation Supervisor: Alex Ferreira Simões
Technical Animation Supervisor: Gustavo Figueiredo 3D Animation: Alex Ferreira Simões, Jeffry Syahputra, Lucas Barbosa, Leonardo Krause, Alejandro Mozqueda Torres, David Herfindahl, Nabeel Ahmed, Rodrigo Souza, Yeesang Khet, Jackson Yeoh, Benny Davis, Elena Velasco
2D Animation Director: Bruno Brasil
2D Animation: Bruno Cursino, Cris Barros, Fhilipe Marmori, Denise Bargos, Geff Silva, Filipe Emerson, Genovis Pagani Filho, Gustavo Carvalho, Hugo Takahashi, Issao Nakabachi, João Paulo, Lucas Flores, Mateuz Fernandes, Raul Vanussi, Robério Reis, Robson Vilalba, Thiago Baggins, Ulisses Jucá Composition: Letícia Fagundes, Isabela Ferrari, Leanndro Amorim, Rafael Medrado, Claudio Bueno Assembler: Alisson Perin, Enrique Pedretti, Carol Nicolletti, Matheus Lopes
Paper Art Producer: Gabriela Leal
Paper Art: Fabiana Fukui, Ligia Mie Jeon, Simone Pinheiro
Paper Art Animation: Erica Valle
Paper Art Director of Photography: André de Souza
Paper Art 1° Camera Assistant: Bruno Moya
Paper Art Logger: Juliana Charleux
Paper Art Gaffer: Hassan Shahateet
Motion Graphics: Vinicius Kahan, Felipe Frazão
Color Grade: Psycho N’ Look
Art Designer: Kaike Gouvea
Financial: Alessandra Cena
TI: Gabriel Paixão, Rodolfo Cultiz