San Francisco agency Argonaut has crafted a trailer for Respawn and EA’s Titanfall 2, one of that game’s primary competitors, ahead of its release tomorrow. It doesn’t feature Danny McBride or Michael Phelps, but we find it a bit more compelling than yesterday’s Call of Duty trailer.
While “Screw It, Let’s Go to Space” was all up in your face with a mixture of action and humor right away, Argonaut’s “Become One” for Titanfall 2 builds slowly, establishing a mood evocative of the spaghetti western genre … only, you know, with giant robots that don’t look nearly as human as the clones in Westworld.
Unlike 72andSunny’s effort, which moves from broad political parody to action movie smack talk, “Become One” eschews dialogue altogether, letting the action onscreen and soundtrack, a reimagining of Sonny Bono’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” do all the talking.
“The bond between Pilot and Titan is core to Titanfall. It’s a two-way relationship that’s functional as well as emotional,” Respawn head of marketing Arturo Castro explained in a statement. “We knew the game demanded an elevated creative campaign that conveyed this narrative to our audience in an artful and cinematic format and are lucky to have accomplished that thanks to our partnership with ARGONAUT.”
“To bring this world to life visually, we asked ourselves, what if Sergio Leone showed up in the futuristic Titanfall frontier with his film crew? How would he frame up the story of a man and his 20ft-tall mechanical steed? We wanted to create a world where our heroes and their landscape could be treated with the same cinematic reverence he would have brought to the table,” added Argonaut founder and co-CCO Hunter Hindman.
The approach largely works, hinting at the relationship between the two characters and how that plays out in the game. While the lyrics to the song may be a bit on-the-nose at times, the decision to turn to music for the only audio is a solid one, as it helps establish the somewhat somber mood of the spot and adds to the stylized approach.
The broadcast version of the spot will run on networks including ESPN, TBS, Syfy, and MTV.
Credits:
Client: Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts
Agency: ARGONAUT San Francisco
Chief Creative Officers: Hunter Hindman, Rick Condos
Associate Creative Directors: Zack Fagin (AD), Matt Kelsen (CW)
Head of Production: Topher Lorette
Producer: Matt Green
Head of Brand Management: Katie Miller
Brand Director: Colleen Toombs
Brand Manager: Madison Shoop
Head of Strategy: Max Heilbron
Communications Strategy Director: Brian Olsen
Strategy Director: Warwick Heathwood
Production & VFX Company: Blur Studio
Director: Dave Wilson
Executive Producers: Al Shier, Greg Talmage
Director of Photography: Ken Seng
VFX Supervisor: Dan Akers
VFX Producers: Tiffany Webber, Brian Keeney
Line Producer: Dennis Beier
Composer/Arrangement: Rob Cairns
Vocals: Grace
Audio: Lime Studios, Rohan Young (mixer), Susie Boyajan (EP)