SWORD ART ONLINE
Role: Motion Designer, Compositor
Company: Crunchyroll
Published: 2019
Following in the style of every MMORPG-inspired franchise, Sword Art Online uses a pseudo medieval / futuristic landscape to disguise the fabric of virtual illusion where gamers compete against each other for the best stats, loot, and ultimate experience.
However, deeper truths lie below the illusion after Kirito’s adventure has taken a series of unexpected turns to place him at the center of a VR experiment that defines the boundaries of the human soul.
Since the gaming interface of SAO has been a major element of the show’s graphics, I want to use the shapes and figures of such interface and combine them with digital + real world assets that interpret Kirito’s battle between good and evil in the underworld. Below is a breakdown of all the graphic elements that will be used to design these title cards for eventual animation.
DIRECTION TO EXECUTION
I was initially contacted by Creative Director Bill Bergen, and tasked with creating a distinct set of graphics for the new Sword Art Online series that would be coming out late 2019. I was given a color palette, theme, and a script outlining the cards I was to build and then I was off to the races. I did research on the show before compiling style frames together, and on the trailer spots that had been done beforehand. The show itself followed a cyberpunk aesthetic seen in sci-fi anime, and being a lover of sci-fi myself, I knew I'd have fun with this.
CYBERPUNK AESTHETIC
Sci-fi elements may appear complex when cobbled together in movies, TV shows, and video games, but when these futuristic UI elements are broken down, they're not much more than a simple collection of lines, circles, and opacity effects. I remember going back to the Iron Man movies and looking at Tony Stark's helmet HUD, as well as looking through some of my favorite CGI in the Matrix, and figuring out how I could replicate that vibe in a manner that fit this series. The result came in the building blocks spread out below.
SOCIALS
I used the elements showcased above to composite all the main titles seen in the trailer spots for SAO. Once I received approval from Bill, I proceeded to cut together all the graphics for our social spots, featured on the Fall of 2019. This whole project spanned a little less than a month, including the delivery of final titles.
CREDITS
Creative Director: Bill Bergen
Motion Designer: Nestor Tomaselli
Producer: Tiffany Loving