Ad of the DayMinecraft’s Upgraded Look Is So Special, They Made a Glee-Caliber Musical About ItMelissa Benoist knocks out zombies and whatnotBy Angela Natividad |November 21, 2017ShareBy Angela Natividad |November 21, 2017ShareWe love it when games go musical. And if you happen to love both Minecraft and Broadway, this number is for you.Created to promote its upcoming Super Duper Graphics Pack, Minecraft released “The Super Duper Minecraft Musical!” The peppy video, which takes place in the boxy universe where anything is possible (as long as you’re willing to build it), features Melissa Benoist of Supergirl and Glee as she discovers the brave new world of Super Duper Graphics.Here’s a basic primer on Minecraft. It’s an open-world game where you can wander wherever you want and interact with the world around you. You can use what’s available in nature—like wood from trees—to build tools, and from there pretty much make whatever you want. The game is also procedurally generated, meaning there’s no linear storyline. You do what you want in this world, in a single- or multi-player context.To make it more interesting, you can add hostile entities like zombies into the mix.The original version of Minecraft is best known for its blocky shapes and pixellated texture. The Super Duper Graphics Pack promises “excessive visual razzmatazz”: 4k graphics, dynamic shadows, movement in leaves and in grass, and realistic elements—like beams of light, water physics and, hey, more glorious sunsets for your nifty treehouse. What better way to show off bigger, brighter gameplay than with a big, bright musical number?In the video, Benoist starts out in the “Vanilla” version of the game before literally plugging in the words “Super Duper,” which appear above her. As she advances, the classic gaming elements vanish and are overtaken by more realistic plant life, objects with shadows and other textual nuances. It ends with a costume change, some hardcore song-and-dance in a much jazzier world, and a zombie smack.Created by 215McCann, the piece debuted over the first half of MINECON Earth on Nov. 18, with music written and composed by Tom Kitt, who gave us the Bring It On musical. The Super Duper Graphics Pack debuts early next year for Xbox One and Windows 10.“Bear in mind, though, that this is just one aesthetic vision for Minecraft, not the vision for Minecraft,” the creators write. “Our beloved pixels are going nowhere, and we’re thinking about ways to give you more choice over your game’s look in the future.”CREDITS Client: Microsoft / Minecraft Taylor Smith Fergus Lynch Jessica Freeman Lydia Winters Nicolette Suraga Markus ToivonenAgency: 215 McCann Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon Creative Director: Neil Bruce Director of Integrated Production: Alex Spahr Producer: Sarah Sweeney Director of Business Affairs: Mary Beth Barney Business Director: Peter Goldstein Account Director: Drew Porter Senior Account Executive: Sam Brody Director of Strategy: Brian Wakabayashi Strategy Director: Cassidy WilberProduction Company: Psyop Director: Kylie Matulick, Todd Mueller Managing Director: Neysa Horsburgh Head of Productions: Drew Bourneuf Executive Producer: Christine Schneider Producer: Nick Read Associate Producer: Jacob Markson Lead Technical Director: Jane Byrne 2D Supervisor: Lane Jolly Designer: Paul Cayrol, Kenneth Lee, Luke Lucas, Chris Martin, Andrew Park, Marc Samson, Sylvain Sarrailh, Kenesha Sneed, Robin Thompson VFX: Mathew Rotman, Ryan Hurd, Lorenzo Silano, Previz Artist: Dan Vislocky, Jack Anderson, Kevin Phelps, Jean – Dominique Fievet Modeler: Scott Denton, Elias Glasch, Greg Mawicke, Diego Melgar Texture Artist: Jenny Yang Rigger: Nelio Naut, Josh Sobel Lighter: Jane Byrne, Michael Johnson, Joey Sila, Alan Yang 3D Animation Lead: Will Kistler 3D Animator: Jayant Kumar, Tarun Lakshminarayanan, Melik Malkasian, Kevin Phelps, Jasmin Segarra, Alan Yang Compositor: Krystal Chinn, Lane Jolly, Brendan Smith, Danny Song Flame Artist: Adam Flynn, Sam Shiflett Matte Painter: Andrew Park Storyboard Artist: Finlay Britton, Max Forward, Tristyn Pease Editor: Brett Nicoletti Assistant Editor: Rob CavedoContinue ReadingPages: 1 2 Adweek Adweek