Directed jointly by Wiek Luijken and Dana Dorian, the trailer introduces the characters and world of the game. Like every good RTS game Under Siege features factions and races, both good and bad, spread across a diverse world. The other exciting element of the game is the art direction and it was this that really appealed to Wiek, Dana and the whole Axis team.
‘As soon as Filipe Pina from Seed Studios sent me the first character concepts I was hooked.’ Says Axis Executive Producer Richard Scott. ‘I knew that this style would really get the team excited and it was great to see such a strong project from this Portuguese developer.’
One of the advantages of working with Seed Studios is that they are a small compact developer and this meant that the Axis crew could talk directly to key creative’s behind the game. This led to a really collaborative relationship that started in pre-production and continued throughout the whole project.
‘Working directly Filipe and Jeffrey was a great experience.’ Said Director Wiek Luijken. ‘We were able to get face to face with them and really work through the pre-production and especially the storyboarding process. Although they had their own treatment when they approached us with the project they were really open to our ideas.’
Across the Under Siege world something is amiss and the trailer introduces the factions and races just as a black cloud of evil literally sweeps through their lands. Throughout the Mekitu frog’s swamplands, to the deserts of the Shifters the enemy is on the attack and the races must unite to prevent their downfall.
The Axis team wanted to take the games art direction and really retain the illustrative feel of the world and the characters. As the project doesn’t have a realistic look it was a great opportunity for Luiken and Dorian to push for a softer feel.
‘The games beautiful look is somewhere between a graphic novel and an illustration and we wanted to keep that visual style’ said Luijken. ‘We kept the colour palette rich and the lighting soft and atmospheric, a focus was put on textures that would feel real but weren’t photo realistic.’
The trailer starts slowly but builds tension as the black cloud takes hold; this tension reaches its peak as we get out first glimpse of the enemy, their bodies appearing to be constructed purely of black smoke.
Another key component for building the tension is the music and sound design. Axis were delighted to be in control of all the sound for the trailer and worked with Savalas to give the project a suitably epic sound track.
‘It was an added bonus to be allowed to drive the music and sound design as well as the visuals’ said Co-Director Dana Dorian. ‘I have worked with Savalas on many projects and they always strike a balance between a strong score and rich sound effects. The sound really does add to the grand scale.’
‘With this game being an exclusive PlayStation Network release it is unusual to see this level of marketing for the title.’ Says Scott. ‘We’ve been delighted to create the trailer and have been excited to see the game, the website and all the other marketing plans develop. Filipe and Seed Studios have really put a focus on high quality production values in both the game and the marketing and it has been great to be a part of that team.’
