WARNING! This animation short is not for the feint hearted! buckle your seatbelt before viewing! Creative studio Nathan Love recently completed “Blood Trail,” a three-minute animated trailer that promotes writer Matt Cochran’s screenplay of the same name.

Perspective Studios, the production company overseeing creative development and licensing for the property across all media platforms, brought the project to Nathan Love. Nathan Love used a hand-animated 3D style to conjure the piece, and the work is expected to be developed shortly into a feature film, videogame and/or graphic novel.

“We were sold on the project the moment we heard ‘animated horror piece’ but became even more engaged in ‘Blood Trail’ after reading the full-feature script,” comments Joe Burrascano, Creative Director/Founder, Nathan Love.

“Matt’s screenplay is written so well, we could envision every detail of his world and couldn’t wait to bring it to life. We were fortunate to be approached by Perspective. They handed us a dream design and direction job, and gave us the creative freedom to produce something really special.

Nathan Love’s goal was to give the project a unique, hand-animated visual style that would feel exciting, intriguing, and powerful, while developing characters that resonated beyond the piece itself. Producer Mike Harry comments, “The overall tension created in Blood Trail is, for me, the coolest part of the film. Having seen it many times now, there’s one moment in particular that I still have trouble watching. The script, storytelling, and the design and realism of the characters and environments helped create an amazing end product.”

To produce Blood Trail, Nathan Love began by creating a detailed breakdown of the script elements. Extensive research into the time period, environments, characters, clothing, and props were conducted to ensure accuracy. This search extended beyond photo and animation references.
Comic books, anime, video games, toys, and even a trip to a local butcher shop were explored as well.

“This was a new genre for us,” added Nathan Love, “but our incredibly talented team of artists, animators and technicians allowed our ideas to flourish and tell the story without any constraints. The entire studio is pumped about this project, and their excitement can be seen in the final piece. We can’t wait to start work on the film and video game.”

“We knew that in order to make the proper transition from the page to the screen, we needed to find a talented design partner and director that was as passionate about the content and genre as we are at Perspective,” said Joe Nolan, senior VP, Corporate Development, Perspective Studios. He added, “We found that Partner in Nathan Love. Their approach to the piece was exactly what we wanted for this trailer and we look forward to continuing the development process as we move toward production on our long-form projects for this property.”

Sound design played a critical part in the creation of Blood Trail. The group was inspired by the film “There Will Be Blood” and worked with composer/musical-genius Drew Skinner (www.drewskinnersound.com) to deliver a soundscape that delivered on dread, mood and suspense.

Nathan Love concludes, “The best part about Blood Trail is that it’s a good story, well told. We love watching people view it for the first time… seeing them get totally drawn in and immersed in the setup, and then BAM!

Their world gets crazy! Whether we get screams, laughter, or total mouth-open shock, there’s always a genuine emotional response. And the best part is we do it twice! Just when you think it’s over, you soon realize the worst is yet to come.”

Technologies used: Maya, Mental Ray, Z-Brush, Real Flow, Photoshop, Corel Painter, After Effects.

ABOUT NATHAN LOVE
Director Nathan Love is driven by quality storytelling and engaging characters. Based in New York, the Nathan Love studio has been peddling top-of-the-line spots for clients such as Chips Ahoy, Nickelodeon, Cellular South, and Cartoon Network.

They’ve also worked closely with New York’s Psyop on ambitious character-driven spots for Fanta and Guinness beer, and were a critical part of the Coca-Cola “Happiness Factory” production. They enjoy working across all media, including commercials, video games, the web, and are always cooking-up new ideas.

ABOUT PERSPECTIVE STUDIOS
Perspective Studios is a premier CG animation producer and motion capture studio specializing in 3D animation for video games, feature films, television, commercials, and online entertainment. The company’s unique mission successfully combines motion capture and animation projects for top-tier media clients with development of original content properties for exploitation on multiple entertainment platforms.

From locations in New York and Los Angeles, Perspective Studios operates two of North America’s largest and most sophisticated motion capture facilities, providing extensive creative services on a diverse slate of projects, including advanced performance capture, real-time pre-visualization, facial animation, and concept to completion CG production. Animation by Perspective Studios has been seen in projects for Rockstar Games, Psyop, The Mill, MTV Games/Electronic Arts, THQ, Nickelodeon and many others.

CREATIVE CREDITS
Executive Producer: Nathan Love
Director: Nathan Love

Creative Team: Joe Burrascano, Kate Burrascano, Dan Vislocky Character Designs: Morgan Schweitzer, Brad Johansen Concept Art: Morgan Schweitzer, Denis Kozyrev Sound Design: Drew Skinner

Producer: Mike Harry
Production Coordinator: Fayna Sanchez

Animation Director: Dan Vislocky
Lighting / Compositing Director: Mats Andersson Character & Cloth Technical Director: Sean Kealey Dynamics & Cloth Technical Director: Ylli Orana Hair & Fur Technical Directors: Ylli Orana, Mats Andersson Pipeline Technical Directors: Jesse Clemens, Sarah-Elizabeth Clemens

Animators: Ryan Moran, Kevin Phelps, David Han, Dan Vislocky Character Model / Detail Artists: Christian Haniszewski, Tony Jung, Ylli Orana Lighting / Compositing Artists: Mats Andersson, Denis Kozyrev, Richard Kim, Anca Risca, Ylli Orana, Michal Finegold, Sylvia Apostol, Joe Burrascano Dynamics & Scripting: George Smaragdis

Environment Layout: Dan Vislocky
Environment Models & Set Dressing: Sylvia Apostol Env & Prop Model / Texture Artists: Sylvia Apostol, Denis Kozyrev, Brad Johansen Matte Painter: Denis Kozyrev

Fluid & Particle Effects: Mothana Hussein Compositing & 2D Blood Effects: Chase Massingill “Dizzy Vision” by Jeff the Dragon

RELATED LINKS
www.nathanlove.com
www.perspectivestudios.com
www.psyop.tv