High-end conceptual director Joe Kosinski of Anonymous Content has once again helmed a monumental trailer for the second coming of Xbox 360's blockbuster game Gears of War 2 via San Francisco-based T.A.G. Despite the violent world in which they live, the soldiers are humanized in this :60, titled Last Day, touching on the solitude in a complicated life of war.
Before the soldiers embark on their inevitable fate, we see them in their most vulnerable states. One soldier stares down at a photo of the loved one he's left behind, while another takes a moment to admire the beauty of a sole flower in the battlefield. With the entrancing backdrop of Devotchka's How it Ends appropriately scoring the spot, we are engulfed by the power of the message.
Kosinski commented on the process, "Like Mad World, Last Day is an example of "machinima" - it was created entirely inside the Unreal Engine 3 game engine. The movement of the characters' bodies and faces was done utilizing the latest generation motion/performance-capture technology at Giant Studios; the same system used in James Cameron's upcoming feature film, Avatar. This system includes a physical camera that provided me with a real-time view of the virtual characters in their environment, making it feel more like a traditional live-action shoot than a virtual one. In addition, the system records the precise camera movement (operated by DP Claudio Miranda), allowing for a more natural filming style."
