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Galaxy 61 Brings Game to Nick at Nite

Galaxy provides a design driven promo, Game On, for Nick at Nite’s new block of children’s programming.

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New York, NY -- When Nick at Nite needed a bold design-driven promo package to herald the network’s new block of children’s programming, loyalkaspar once again called upon Galaxy 61 to do what they do best – conceive, create and deliver something very cool - very quickly.

Agency creative director and partner, David Herbruck returned to Galaxy 61 to tap the talents of Doug Johnson, founder of the hybrid design-driven VFX boutique, and his handpicked team of designers and FX artists. Herbruck and agency producers, Steve Renn and Dave Abel, tasked the Brooklyn, NY-based company with creating Game On, a Nick at Nite promo that called for Galaxy 61 to execute their concept and create a complex cityscape with the techno-realism and movement of a gaming video environment.

Johnson took his cues for the five-second intro and close from the logo, a three-tiered tower of stacked pairs of block letters spelling out Game On.  Activated by the ‘play’ button, the logo begins to twist like Rubik’s cube. It changes color, rotates and spins – ultimately revealing a detailed and surreal Game world.

“Short schedules are an exciting challenge,” says Johnson.  “The process was very much like jazz improv - coming up with solutions and tweaks on the fly through the design, modeling, 3D animation, lighting, rendering, compositing and editing phases of the job.”

loyalkaspar provided Galaxy 61 with a developed brief for the promo package - and Johnson’s approach was all about creating the look and feel of the gaming genre, but with added realism and shout-outs to specific games.

A sandy beach with palm trees, pyramids and fanciful cone-shaped trees quickly transitions to a golf course with super-sized golf balls floating in the sky alongside billowing striped clouds. The aerial journey then becomes a drivers-eye view, traveling at ground level over a basketball court, then onto a racing game as cars speed down a futuristic city street, ultimately crashing. Finally the viewer arrives at a bandstand brought to life with animated instruments and notes moving to the beat of a Guitar Hero-style music game, as the visual story comes to an end.

“This was a real creative challenge, but we had a lot of fun with it. The action was moving so quickly that we had to do a ‘bullet-time’ slowdown just so the viewer could take it all in,” says Johnson. ”We also created elements, like smoke and debris, that moved in slow motion to add to the realism.”

Johnson worked very closely with Herbruck, Renn and Abel, maintaining a level of communication throughout every phase of the project that was key to pulling the job off without a hitch.

“Working with the team at loyalkaspar is always a great collaborative experience and we appreciate their trust and the creative freedom they give us,’” says Johnson.  “They consistently come up with innovative concepts, and it’s very rewarding to know that they rely on me as a designer, to evolve their concepts into a compelling visual stories that brings home their message. The agency's confidence, and the fact that there was not a lot of design micro-management on their part, was key to delivering a final product on time that we’re all proud of. These guys have very high standards - the work I've done for them is to a large degree the best material on the reel."

 Galaxy 61 has worked on a number of projects with loyalkaspar, including IDs for Disney's Dlife and Disney XD channels, spots for Insight Communications, IDs for The Discovery Channel, and The Bridgestone intro for The Who's 2011 Superbowl performance.

Source: Galaxy 61

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.

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