Supercell’s highly anticipated game Brawl Stars has launched worldwide on both the App store and Google Play. To ignite excitement in the gaming community, agency Barton F. Graf, New York, created a film titled “No Time to Explain” introducing players to an entirely new cast of characters in the world of Brawl Stars.
This continues a campaign strategy of building and telling the stories of the in-game characters, creating content that feels like an extension of the game.
This :60 captures what it feels like to be a new player dropped into the instantaneous mayhem of the Brawl Stars world. The film blends 2D effects with 3D animation, working with partners around the world to coordinate efforts. Production companies were Psyop in Venice Beach, Calif., and Golden Wolf in London.
Credits
Client Supercell/Brawl Stars Agency Barton F Graf, New York Gerry Graf, founder/chief creative officer; Jeff Benjamin, executive creative director; Ross Fletcher, Mark Bielik, creative directors; Sara Carr, Jesse Brown, art directors/copywriters; Chris Kelley, designer; David Cardinali, head of integrated production; Cameron Farrell, executive producer; Quinn Morrissey, Helene Dick, strategists. Production Golden Wolf, London Ingi Erlingsson, director; Dotti Sinnott, exec producer; Tan Baptista, head of production; Ana Hoxha, production assistant; Sammy Moore, art director; Gaia Lamiot, storyboards; Sammy Moore, Joao Lavieri, Mikhail Kalinin, Tim Kaminski, Sylvain Sarrila, David Fortin, Michaela Gote, Inbal Breda, design; Tim Whiting, Thom Knowler, Rhys Byfield, Mikhail Kalinin, Thomas Ramon, Stuart Geddis, 2D animation; Amix, additional cleanup; Matthieu Landour, John Wilkinson, Laurence Parsons, compositing. Production Psyop, Venice, Calif. Neysa Horsburgh, managing director; Amanda Miller, exec producer; Jamie Pastor, producer; Calvin Ching, assistant producer; Kyle Cassidy, lead technical director; Austin Brown, 2D compositing supervisor; Jean-Dominque Fievet, animation director; Ana Bernaus, designer; Liam Griffin, Mathew Rotman, Nico Sugleris, VFX; Elias Glasch, Nitesh Nagda, Joe Paniagua, modelers; Jane Byrne, Nitesh Nagda, Caleb Ollivant, Michael Rogers, Joey Sila, texture artists; Sean Kealey, Nelio Naut, Josh Sobel, Zeth Willie, riggers/technical animation; Todd Kumpf, Nitesh Nagda, Michael Rogers, lighters; Ares Deveaux, Ben Girmann, Will Kistler, Melik Malkasian, Garrett Oneal, Yung Pham, Bill Rodgers, Anael Saint-Jean-Vidal, Alan Yang, 3D animation; Lena Huang, Annie Liao, AE artists; Austin Brown, Tingting Li, compositors; Reuben Corona, matte painter; Brandon Sanders, Sam Shiflett, Kim Stevenson; Ben Girmann, Will Kistler, previz artists; Mike Hackett, editor; John Buzon, Alice Cen, media management. Music Butter Andrew Sherman, composer; Ian Jeffreys, exec producer. Sound Design Trinitite Brian Emrich, sound design. Audio Post Heard City Evan Mangiamele, audio engineer.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
