Character building
Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes have brought The Sims 3 to HD life in two new commercials
The spots, for the highly anticipated title from EA Games, are two thirty second films, each rendered in high def 3D animation.
They show a new beginning for hundreds of Sims characters as they discover their new home – a pristine seaside town set in an idyllic valley – and what they can do there. As a god-like voice over announces their creation they stream into the town, filling it with life in all its varied – and sometimes anarchic – glory.
From fantasy wives to death-defying grannies, almost all the characters and sets were designed by the Nexus team using the new in-game software but animated with Smith & Foulkes’ trademark wit and comedy.
“The idea was simply to bring a bit of epic cinematic silliness into the lives of the Sims as they discovered Sunset Valley, the dawn of a new age,” said Alan Smith, one half of Smith & Foulkes. “The in-game software was used to design and build the characters and most of the sets and props. All the actual animation, lighting and compositing was done using professional 3D animation software at Nexus Productions.”
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Metadata Client: EA Games
Title: Let There Be Sims / ‘Happy’ & ‘Lollipop’
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland
Art Directors: Ben Carter & Matthew Carey
Creative Team: Aaron Allen & Jed Alger
Agency Producer: Fran O’Conner
Production Company: Nexus
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Executive Producers: Chris O’Reilly & Charlotte Bavasso
Head of Production: Julia Parfitt
Producer: Luke Youngman
Production Manager: Jo Bierton
Project Lead: Mark Davies
Animation: Nexus
Compositing: Fletcher Moules, Dylan White, Alasdair Brotherston
Technical Director (modelling): David Fleet
Mastering: Mission Control, Portland
Sound Design: Charlie Keating at Joint Editorial, Portland
Sound Mix: Eric Stolberg at Digital One, Portland
Music: MPM London