Last month I finished directing a 30 second tv commercial for Playstation's Little Big Planet on the PSP. An animated extravaganza combining lots of different techniques - pixellation, stop-motion, and CGI animation - all condensed into a short space of time.
The initial idea for the commercial from Mike Hughes at LOVE creative, was to take the hand-crafted feel of the game with all its amazing textures and materials and combine this with a very fresh, and modern approach to the visuals.
The main character Sackboy is really fun, cute and cool. Just like on the PS3 you can change his outfits and put him in various different moods as you play. This facility for customization means that he appeals to an extremely wide range of people, across different age groups. I wanted to use his charm and personality to full effect in this ad. He is cheeky, energetic and inquisitive and I pushed this in his body language and actions. There is also I hope an injection of humour and cool in the ad which mirrors the feeling of the game itself.
And by the way, if you haven't played the game - get out there and try it! I have to confess that a few of us, in the crew, were either already hooked or became a little hooked on the game during production. I hold my hands up as one of the latter. The others of you - you know who you are!
The commercial aired for the first time on Wednesday the 18th November. But you can also see it on the Slinky website. Just click on the link top right (of my blog page).
Take a look!
