9 Monkeys Of Shaolin
Launch Trailer 2020 – Director’s Cut
A village ravaged by bandits. A hero fueled by revenge. Wei Chen beats the bad guys up in this epic trailer Colorbleed cooked up for game developer Buka, where the action-packed shots just keep on hyping us for the release of the game.
We doubled up on the special effects, creating flames, swirly smoke plumes, and amazing 2D FX that accompany some acrobatic animation to show the world what a great game trailer should look like.
Client
Ripped from the page of a comic book
Re-inventing style language
Since the concept phase it was clear that the visual style would have to be bold and new. Through the use of color we create the atmosphere for the shot and give the characters bold contour lines and hard shadows as if they were ripped from the page of a comic book. The 2D fx were hand-drawn, along with the action lines that give an accent to the stepped animation style we envisioned.
We gave ourselves this technical challenge in order to create a visual style that was both charged with narrative power and innovation.
...has hand-drawn unique FX that carry the action to the next level. We conducted extensive visual research to create a specific style for the special FX, and developed techniques for integrating it with the 3D animated characters and illustrated backgrounds.
Our animators really gave their best in creating these breathtaking 2D effects. Art direction and precise timing skills are fundamental in pulling off such complex feats, and there’s also a lot of fun to be had when just epic is not enough. We all liked to raise the bar for this project, both in innovative style language and a technical showcase.
“You need to practice every day. So when the time comes, you will be ready.”
To announce the game 9 Monkeys of Shaolin (2018) we directed and produced this intro to the game’s protagonist Wei Cheng. His grandfather always taught him to prepare for battle. Unskilled, yet training daily with his grandfather’s memory. Wei, who is just a regular fisherman, charges into battle against the pirate raid to defend his own village. Watch the trailer below:
Official Announcement Trailer
The true rebirth of iconic beat ’em up genre in vein of old-school video games! As a simple Chinese fisherman Wei Cheng you have to avenge the death of your friends and family slaughtered in a pirate raid at your peaceful village.
Earlier style development
We always set specific goals in our projects, especially with project like these.
The goal in this case was tot mimic a 2D animation style, in fact a combination of styles.
Based off of the game’s concept art, resembling traditional watercolors, we explored our options.
The whole film is animated on doubles, we created custom cell-shaders, toon outlines and the final shots were enhanced by 2D effects.