Snack Spots
To celebrate the release of Halo Infinite, Framestore joined forces with creative agency Townhouse to imagine a series of “snack spots” throughout the game in which players can hide with enough time to chow down on some tasty Pringles. While these hideouts may not technically be built into the game, the agency partnered with players to stream themselves finding their very own snack spots once the game dropped.
Beginning with initial concepting, the New York and Chicago-based Framestore teams approached the :15 digital film with hand-drawn storyboards by Art Director, Jake Cuddihy, to define its visual language. Using 3D design and VFX in Cinema 4D, Nuke and Houdini, the team produced a stunning blend of physically plausible elements and surreal, Halo-inspired environments. CG and Design lead Christopher Friesen oversaw the team of Framestore artists who created the spot made entirely of CG elements, which also meant that a traditional color pass was not necessary and the look was completed within the compositing process.
Whilst the film serves as the living, breathing element of the campaign, four additional 2D game accurate maps were also created for social sharing to mark individual ‘snack spots’ that players can refer to while experiencing the game.
“Working with Townhouse was a pleasure as they allowed us to truly flex our creative muscles and build a reimagined world of an elegant, abstract map infused with the terraforming of the Halo universe,” said Framestore Creative Director Lawrence Jones, who oversaw the campaign’s concepting, direction and final edit. “Our greatest challenge was to effectively communicate the concept of ‘safe-spots’ hidden within the map within the very limited 15-second timeframe.”
The campaign can be found across digital, including Pringles’ YouTube and social media channels.