Crime does indeed pay for S4 Studios. The Hollywood design and animation studio has completed a graphic live action/animation branding campaign for Sleuth, the new mystery and crime cable network imprint from Universal Studios Emerging Networks Division. With the tagline "Get Clued in," Sleuth is simulcast in SD and HD, and features a lineup of targeted programming such as "Miami Vice," "Homicide: Life on the Street," Knight Rider" and others.
The S4 team of Director/Designer Geoffrey Kater, Creative Director Thomas Helmintoller and Writer/Producer Larry Le Francis delivered 100 motion graphic elements and created a series of 15 ID's for the campaign, divided into three distinct styles that represented varied aspects of Sleuth's programming. According to Kater. "Sleuth is all about crime and its resolution, and after experimenting with different scenarios, we came to the idea of creating highly stylized 'moments in time,' miniature stories that resemble a gritty high-contrast graphic novel."
For example, "Street Cops," shows a suspect being arrested, a tagging, a cell door closing on an inmate and a chalk outline being drawn on the sidewalk. "High Crimes" features a high end drug deal, identity theft and a computer security breach; and "Private Investigators" a stakeout, fingerprint dusting, a high tech break-in, and a furtive briefcase exchange. Each vignette then graphically resolves into different treatments of the "Sleuth" logo. Since women make up the major part of Sleuth's viewing audience, several graphics were created around that demographic-a woman's gloved hand slipping poison into a martini, a female investigator on surveillance detail. "We also gave each set of stories a monochromatic look to further identify it," Kater says. "Street Cops was in gritty tones of red; Private Investigators was in shades of blue, and High Crimes was in yellow tones."
The live action portions of the campaign were shot on Hollywood's dark streets as well as an in-house blue screen, utilizing a cast of professional and some non-pro actors, including an actual crime scene investigator for the Pasadena Police Dept and S4 partner Kater acting the part of a hooded jewelry store robber. Each cast member was shot in HD, the footage was desaturated, separated from their live action backgrounds, and re-integrated or rotoscoped into animated and graphic backgrounds created in Adobe After Effects 7.2 and NewTek LightWave 9.0. "We wanted to show black and white people living in a high-contrast comic book world," says Helmintoller. "The graphic nature and negative space of the designs allowed us the flexibility to texture and polish the visuals however we wanted."
"The campaign is a perfect example of the design power of this company," says Le Francis. "We are continuing to explore the graphic possibilities of combining 3D with live action elements for our branding campaigns. It's just another way to bring all our tools to bear when we implement a client's vision."
NBC Universal was represented by Sr. VP of Emerging Networks Dan Harrison and V.P. of On-Air Promotions Sarah Pierce. Additional S4 Studios production credits include 3D animator Don McCoy, 2D compositor Craig Kuehne, and Junior Compositor Sarah Keturah.