Blizzard Entertainment | Hazard Tactics
Role: Art Direction | Design | Animation
STUDIO: We Are Royale
CD: Loren Judah , Markus Walker
AD: Brandon Lee Smith
Senior Producer: Michael Cauchi
Animation Director: Jared Norby
Animation Supervisor: Pat Clarke
VFX Supervisor: Matt Guzzardo
Lead Editor: Ryan Frey
3D character Animation: Rosanna Davila, Lucaiano Munoz Sessarego
2D animation: Daneil Munoz, Arther Metcalf, Alex Gee, Brayn Cox
3D Lighting/Rendering: Farbod Khoshtaint
FX animation: Nikita Kibirev
Production Artist: Erica Lee
Illustration: Mad Boogie
Stroyboard: Frankell Baramdyka, Monty Granito
WAR partnered with the OW2 team at Blizzard to craft a trailer for their newest addition of tank characters - HAZARD. I was lucky enough to help lead the design side of this project. To say it has been a long dream to be able to work on a stlyized narrative that has deep roots in one of my favorite gaming companies is an understatement. Using a mix of 3D character animation with illustration and a whole lot of 2.5D animation tricks we maticuiously blended the various styles together while maintaining the illustrative feel of past hero trailers. Overall, it was a pleasure to work with some of my favorite artists to bring this to life!
Concepting // 01
Finding the Vibe.
Very early in the process - before we really had any story details locked down - I started laying out some rough concept art based on the work in progress script that was being developed. I had a few key images of Hazard poses from internal Blizzard concept artists - but I wanted to start exploring what the vibe could start to feel like. At this point - it wasn't known as to what the environment was going to look like so I played with a typical cyberpunk city. In production we were guided to using Oasis labs as the backdrop for our environment.
Design and Look Dev // 02
Finding the Look.
Once story was locked - we were able to start exploring more design. My focus was mostly on what does Hazard look like when rendered and of course the iconic transformation sequence at the tail end of the spot. This project finally gave me an excuse to put C4D's and Redshifts new toon shading features to the test as well as other texturing techniques that we could blend together to find interesting results. These are just a few look dev tests and design frames I explored in the process. Ultimately, Hazard needed to match the look and feel of the other illustrated characters and environment around him.
Final Look // 03
The North Star
We were able to successfully light/render Hazard in a way that fits the 2D illustrations of the other character. This was the design frame to prove the concept out, now it was game time.
Transformation // 04
Glitches, Glitches, Glitches
I also tag teamed the glitch sequences with my friend and amazing Blender artist Nikita Kibirev. We really wanted to go wild with Hazards state of mind as he's injected with the vanadium. His mind glitching out in this surreal colorful way.
