A man with a panicked look on his face faces out towards the camera, there is a man with a white shirt in the background.

Free This Weekend?

‘Free this weekend? Overwatch is.’ Framestore was a trusted partner to Blizzard Entertainment on a multi-spot campaign celebrating the two year anniversary of 'Overwatch', their highly acclaimed video game with over 40 million players worldwide. Framestore Pictures director Tom Routson reinforced his affinity for comedic direction in his second campaign for the brand, on which Framestore was pleased to lead on all aspects of production.

a barber looking down in shock at the hair cut
a person at a barber shop with an incredulous look on their face

The BAFTA- and Game Award-winning video game is recognised for its continuous support of both its players and the game itself, and Blizzard Entertainment is keen to continue growing its dedicated audience. In this round of work, we watch weekend plans get destroyed, only to be saved by the opportunity to embrace days of Overwatch play.

a person at a barber shop looking shocked

Direct To Brand

Framestore was entrusted with seeing through the entire project from shoot to finish. The creative studio partnered directly with Blizzard Entertainment and managed all aspects of production, including live action, editorial, music, sound design, final audio, color, VFX, and finishing.

Framestore was pleased to steer the project, which was originally concepted by Liquid Advertising, joining with Cut & Run Editorial and Shindig Music and Sound. As the center point for communication, Framestore was relied on to manage all creative partners and ensure that all stages of the project went smoothly. The studio was prepared to tap into its multidisciplinary resources to guide their partner, Blizzard Entertainment, both creatively and logistically.

a person standing in front of a porch with their dog trying to close the door on a snow storm

Doing all of the work in house just makes sense. We have all of the ingredients, which brings us to an incredibly communicative, productive, and overall streamlined environment.
Tom Routson
Director
a person with snow all over them
a small dog standing in snow

Live Action

Framestore Pictures Director Tom Routson had a great experience collaborating with Blizzard Entertainment, who were enthusiastic about working together. Routson felt the brand’s trust immensely in an on-set environment that was extremely flexible. Moving into the post-production process, Routson effortlessly worked with Framestore’s top level creative team to see all aspects of production through.

a person holding a playstation

VFX

Framestore resources were utilised nationally, with the visual effects teams working together in both the New York and Los Angeles offices. The New York VFX team worked mostly in 2D, tackling projects such as rig removal, green screen comps, and creating weather elements. They also created the end cards using After Effects.

In Los Angeles, the work was graded by Framestore Colourist Beau Leon, who used his classic chroma print filter LUT, added vignettes to create more contrast, and increased saturation whilst keeping the colour separation intact. Their successful collaboration left all parties feeling great about the final product and looking forward to their next project.

a person hanging out of a window on a white sheet

Client
Blizzard Entertainment
Agency
Liquid Advertising
Production Company
Framestore Pictures
Assistant Brand Manager, Blizzard Entertainment
Jessica White
Account Director, Liquid Advertising
Ryan D'Arcy
Executive Producer
Jennifer Siegel
Visual Effects Company
Framestore
VFX Production Coordinator
Aaron Bautista
Sound Company
Shindig
VP Global Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment
John Heinecke
Producer
Matt MacLennan
Senior VFX Producer
Morgan MacCuish, Jordan Sharon
Senior Flame Artist
Bruno Calva
Shoot Supervisor
John Cook
Nuke Compositor
Dan Giraldo
Editorial Company
Cut + Run
Senior Brand Manager, Blizzard Entertainment
Ryan C. Davis
Executive Creative Director, Liquid Advertising
Patrick Runco
Director
Tom Routson
DOP
Trent Opaloch
VFX Producer
PJ Stegall
VFX Supervisor
Designer
Kenneth Dayhoff, David Quiray
Editor, Cut + Run
Andy Green
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