Unless you're inside the gaming industry, chances are good you've never heard of Brain Zoo before. For the uninitiated, they're one of the many unknown companies involved in making commercials, in-game movies and trailers for hit video games. They've worked with high-profile publishers like Activision, Microsoft, Midway, Sega, LucasArts, and Sony Online Entertainment, among others.
Making these sorts of pre-rendered movies is an under appreciated art. Trailers in particular are among the initial hype building tools that publishers use for their games. People often pass judgment on a game before even playing its demo, so having people like it right off the bat is important... and that's where Brain Zoo comes in.
We chatted with Mohammad Davoudian, president and CEO of Brain Zoo Studios, about giving trailers the right hitch.
Brain Zoo's Untold Legend
A couple of weeks ago, Brain Zoo announced that it received an Aurora Award for "Best F/X: Entertainment." Designed to honor the best in commercials, (along with instructional, industrial and documentary videos) the Aurora was given to the studio for its work on the promotional trailer for the PS3 title Untold Legends Dark Kingdom. This was actually the fourth Aurora Award that Brain Zoo has won.
"It was Platinum level award for visual effects and animation and that encompasses all the animation work we did on the one- to two-minute trailer. It had a lot of visual-effect style work, and we put a lot of movie-style effects in the game trailer," said Davoudian. "It's an honor for us to receive an Aurora award. It shows the importance of a piece like this for marketing and PR and for launch titles like Untold Legends Dark Kingdom. And it was a lot of fun to make."
He added about Brain Zoo on a personal level, "I love [Brain Zoo]. The group of people I work with are a joy to be around. They all enjoy each other's company. I don't feel most of the time like they're coming into work. It's like they're leaving home and coming into a digital sandbox. We're a very artistically friendly environment, and we keep it easy going."
Art of the Trailer
Creating a great game trailer is a lot like putting together a short film about the game it is for. It usually includes many of the elements found in the game, such as characters and environments, along with gameplay elements, whether lifted directly from the game or expanded on for the video. Even very hardcore gamers' eyes will widen when looking at a finely crafted trailer, and it is often the first impression many people have of a game.
"[What you want] is obviously something that is representative of the game itself: characters, environment and the type of action that takes place in the game," explained Davoudian. "The Untold Legends trailer has all that. A trailer also tells a very direct and short story in a small period of time. You have to be able to present a two-minute storyline. You then put rich visuals in to get people excited about it and make for a good piece."
As Davoudian said, story is an important element in trailers, even if it is the most overlooked part. A trailer can certainly be created without a story, typically incorporating scenes from the game in an unconnected fashion. However, having a story in the trailer gives the watcher something more to focus on, even if it's almost subconsciously. People will pay more attention if there's some sort of story progression. "Even if the story is very subtle, it helps to be able to describe was takes place in the game and complement rich and brilliant visuals," he continued.
One impressive element of Brain Zoo's work on trailers, commercials and in-game cinematics for games is the sheer variety of titles that they have covered. This includes cartoonish and outlandish titles (Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Freaky Flyers) to dark and atmospheric (Gears of War, Darkwatch).