For client Hasbro, Gravity has produced a stunning, action-packed, 30-second animated spot which brings the “Battleship Live” board game to life. Gravity produced the spot through agency UPROAR! Zviah Eldar, Gravity CEO/Chief Creative Director, and Bob Samuel, Gravity’s CMO/Executive Producer, made the announcement. The Battleship LIVE spot was part of a larger package that Gravity produced for Hasbro and UPROAR!, which also included spots promoting “Monopoly LIVE” and other products.

In the Battleship LIVE spot, we see a fast paced aerial view of a fleet of battleships as they come under attack by a squadron of fighter jets. Seamen onboard the ships retaliate to the attack by firing missiles against the invading air force. Explosions abound as an enormous tower suddenly emerges from the sea, shooting red lasers at the enemy aircraft.

Said Samuel, “Almost everyone here grew up playing the classic ‘Battleship’ game, and now, many of us play it with our kids! So the opportunity to work on this spot was exciting right from the start. The fact that this assignment allowed Gravity to create some really kick-ass photoreal military animation was more than enough for us to embrace this terrific project.

Gravity’s Creative Directors Harry Dorrington and Yuval Levy led the team. Dorrington, also Director of the spot, said, “Our goal with this spot was to provide a visceral, highly realistic piece of animation that would serve as a ‘call to action’ so that viewers will visit the website to learn more about the modernized version of this classic game. Viewers will be intrigued and excited by this new twist on the traditional Battleship – which is now electronic and features a massive control tower. We depicted one naval force challenging another in this piece, keeping the fun of the traditional game intact, while notching up the excitement to a new dynamic level. We initially provided our clients with start frames and treatments to help bring this spot to life, and we ultimately delivered a feature film-style reference to the animated battleships, jet fighters, and turbulent seascape within the narrative.”

Says Levy, “We wanted to make a strong visual connection for the viewer here, between the classic Battleship board game and today’s modern era videogame play. To do so, we took a videogame cinematic style approach, depicting to our viewers that playing this famous game is still as exciting as it’s always been, but now that it’s been updated and modernized with an electronic tower, the imagination of the player is now even more heightened than in the past. Perhaps our biggest challenge in the spot was to create the CG water and water simulations, presenting the clash of these two massive naval forces in a hyper realistic way. To us, this spot is comparable to a movie trailer for an imaginary film – it presents the buildup to a dramatic war, with the viewer wanting to see how the action will ultimately play itself out in the end.”

UPROAR! Chief Creative Officer Erik Nelson said, “We enlisted the help of Gravity to deliver triple AAA video game quality animation for the newest innovation from Hasbro – the LIVE game tower. This new way to play face to face has been built into two of Hasbro’s biggest brands, Monopoly and Battleship. Our challenge was to get kids, tweens and teens to choose this new evolution of board gaming over the vast array of digital gaming options. To make the challenge even more difficult, we were burdened with a lean budget and a tight timeline. The concept was to bring the fantasy of each gaming experience (Monopoly & Battleship) to life in CG, and then introduce the new, all-powerful LIVE Tower to disrupt the action. The result would show the dynamic new gameplay the LIVE Tower adds to each game.”

“Harry, Yuval, Russ and the entire team at Gravity delivered in spades,” Nelson continues. “The end product was truly beautiful animation with a very unique look. Our goal of appealing to our target by playing in the visual world of video games lent an authenticity to Monopoly and “Battleship Live” that I believe is sure to drive sales. We are looking forward to the holiday shopping season to see how LIVE performs at retail. Win or lose, UPROAR! will most definitely be working with Gravity again in the near future.”

Adds UPROAR! Creative Director Dan Lombardi, “When we approached Gravity’s Bob Samuel about its this live gaming project, we had three issues…1) Timing, 2) Budget and 3 Quality for the Timing and Budget. The Gravity team took on the challenge and never looked back. UPROAR!’s goal was to create a new vision for classic board games like ‘Battleship’ and ‘Monopoly,’ and show how these games are evolving for the next generation of board gamers. Gravity brought an energy and enthusiasm to the project that matched our own.”

He adds, “From the first pitch materials to the final cut, Gravity went above and beyond, and never failed to impress. Plenty of obstacles were thrown in their path, yet the Gravity team kept its focus on moving forward and turning out the best commercials possible. When the project started out behind schedule, Gravity forged ahead and continued to churn out top quality animation. Without their commitment and focus on the big picture we would have never been able to have the success we’ve had.”

“Harry, Yuval, Bob and the Gravity team brought a ‘can do’ attitude to the project, and a sense of optimism that kept it moving ahead, on time, and on budget. And the results are stunning. We couldn’t be happier with the final output,” Lombardi concludes.

Watch the Battleship LIVE spot on motion.tv.