2024
Hazard Tactics
Role
Art Direction, Design & Animation
Client
Blizzard Entertainment
Team
We Are Royale
Hero Origin Trailer | Overwatch 2
Storytelling
Gaming
Look Development
Concept Design
Animation
Overview
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 // 1
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 & Look Dev // 2
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 transforation 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.
Transforation // 3
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.
