How Trump Failed Us

You Ask

You didn't.

We Answer

This story was too important not to tell.

Purely a passion project, here is a story bursting with intrigue complete with clandestine operations, back door deals and a total lack of leadership from the Trump Administration. But this isn’t a story. This happened. And the fact that Maryland, along with other state and local governments, had to James Bond their way into securing PPE and coronavirus testing is nothing short of shocking. We wanted this to feel real because it is real.

When coming up with the style for this PSA, we knew that we wanted the transitions to be smooth and the tone to be dark to reflect the surreal almost Orwellian nature of this story. Our lead designer leaned into the visual styles of Oliver Stone’s JFK, The X-Files and high contrast illustration with strong single source lighting. By compositing 2D and flat shaded 3D elements, we were able to reap all the benefits of real world sweeping camera movements and parallax along with quick reading forms to draw the eye much like traditional illustration would. When deciding on the visuals, we were riding a fine line between journalism and entertainment. This is a fact based thriller, but a thriller no less. So the tone was one where the style and imagery could reflect the real consequences of this moment in our history.

By compositing 2D and flat shaded 3D elements, we were able to reap all the benefits of real world sweeping camera movements and parallax along with quick reading forms to draw the eye much like traditional illustration would. When deciding on the visuals, we were riding a fine line between journalism and entertainment. This is a fact based thriller, but a thriller no less. So the tone was one where the style and imagery could reflect the real consequences of this moment in our history.

In some of our earlier brainstorming sessions, we found visual inspiration from the main titles for AMC’s revolutionary war spy thriller, Turn. The smooth transitions and stark contrasting color palette felt right from the jump. This look easily communicates that the major events in this series took place in the shadows and we wanted to achieve a similar vibe for this piece.

In the end we made everything 3D to make the whole piece look more uniform in style, allowing us to precisely control the lighting. Making a 3D Trump model was a hilarious task, but it captured his body language quite well, don’t you think? The folks at Motionographer shared our enthusiasm and gave us a nod here: https://motionographer.com/quickie/not-my-job-how-trump-failed-us/

“If one can imagine a cross between rotoscoping A-HA's "Take On Me",
flat shade 3D, overlays of hand drawn Bill Seinkewicz styled ink and
marker morphing and transforming, I think this could be freakin' amazing.”

Narration was going to be a key factor in the piece and we were originally thinking of a “James Bond” type. But not James. We were leaning more towards Judy Dench’s portrayal of “M.” But the more we saw the piece develop, and the more confirmation that came out about the virus and its victims, we decided a local voice would be most impactful. We therefore enlisted Joe Madison, famed radio talk-show host (aka, The Black Eagle), DMV local, and political and social activist to deliver a simultaneously serious and intriguing narration.

Fact

At present, COVID-19 has sadly claimed over 115,000 American lives. Our recovery starts with the truth. Please get tested.