feedback from client

Jamie

Thanks for sending me the latest work, following our last meeting.

1: Insurgent Splash Screen
Starting with the good, I am extremely impressed by the face animation. Obviously we have a 4-6 second slot, so it will have to be shortened but the concept is working well. To confirm the points we discussed on the phone, The wind will be keeping the headscarf down until 3 seconds or so from the end, leading to a reveal of the lettering, spelling Insurgent: An Untold Story, which will be written on the scarf and subject to the same wind. The final version will probably have a slightly smaller face, and a bigger head scarf, and if we could 'weather-beat' that face a little more (Ali finishes the game a haunted soul), and perhaps add some eye-acting, iot would be great, although this is extra and I am aware it did not form a part of the original brief.

2: Bradford Stop the War Splash Screen
The tests of the explosions are useful, recognising that they are basic, and the final version will be dramatic. You discussed on the phone extending the reversal of time beyond the bomb reformation, and taking that bomb back up to it's plane and THEN doing the stop the war logo. I wholly approve of this idea, bearing in mind though the 6 second limit. You might have to cut to different stages of the action, but if you are hard cutting sound too, I am sure the audience would be sophisticated enough to take it. I know you have a plan, but can I again ask you to consider doing this in the CryENGINE, as it already has very impressive explosions, a conventional bomber and we could provide you with a set. In fact, all you would need is to export your bomb and logo assets into the engine. It also has the advantage of continuity with the game and building anticipation for the game ahead

3: Games Group Two Splash Screen
We have not talked about this in our last meeting, but attached is a hi-poly 3d model of the gg2 logo. You may remember our ideas about perhaps reflecting images on it, but we have probably let this part of the brief fall behind the others, so we need to be getting this to the next step soon.

4: Viral ad
Thanks for the storyboard. I think, having seen it, and discussed it on the phone with you, this idea is losing currency. My main concerns are
a) We are keen to move away from the idea that there is one truth, therefore, uging the viewer to 'find out the truth' at our website is probably disjointed with our wider aims. The debate around the war often colonises a monopoly of supporting the troops, patriotism and truth for the pro-war section of the debate. What we are trying to say is that there is more than one way to see your country, that you can support the troops by bringing them home and that nobody has a monopoly on the truth.
b) The emotional focus of the proposed ad is entirely on the Western troops, which is specifically one of the issues our game seeks to address. The war, when it's stories are told at all, are almost always told from the Western perspective, on the news and in fiction. Our ame seeks to address this by putting the player in the emotional life of the occupied, and my script more or less relentlessly keeps the focus there. It is a story of Ali's journey and the journey of the Iraqi's around him. This ad may dilute this focus.
Therefore I believe that this concept is beyond reform and we should seek to immediately abandon and relce it. Can I suggest we have an informal throwing around of ideas in the run up to Friday's big presentation, and then we set a date early next week to formalise a storyboard going forward, taking into account the lessons learned so far.
On the upside, the night vision atmosphere and the understanding of the viral ad form, gives me confidence that the problem is conceptual and not creative, and I am more confident than ever that we will produce work we can be proud of.

Let me know how you wish to procede, and feel free to call me any time regarding the issues I have raised.

Regards
Judah Smith
Project Manager - Games Group Two