When you thought the “Infinity Blade” Franchise couldn’t get anymore hyped about, “Axis” and Ben Hibon came to hype you all up even more.
The animation studio “Axis”, animation director Ben Hibon, and “ChAIR Entertainments” are proud to announce that they have collaborated to make the short film “Infinity Blade: Origins”. The short film was made as a dramatic opening for the new installment to the franchise “Infinity Blade 3” which releases September 18th worldwide.
The short film was made to give the fans a different hold of view on the story of “Infinity Blade”. The film begins with the forging of the infinity blade, and continues with the swords story.
“When ChAIR approached Ben about the project he was immediately drawn to the games story and the mixture of a medieval world filled with modern technology.” said Axis Executive Producer Richard Scott. “As we both dove into the story I discussed the project at length with Ben. Once I saw the visuals Ben was developing I knew this was going to be special.”
“The world and mythos the team at ChAIR has created over the last two games is incredibly rich, layered and complex.” said Hibon. “Our main challenge was to define a clear narrative structure that would present various key events and characters from the Infinity Blade universe – but encapsulate them all into one seamless sequence.”
Ben Hibon’s is known for his in-game sequences for Capcom’s “Killer7” game, and for creating an animated series for “Playstation 3” debut game “Heavenly Sword” which shows his unique design skills. For the short film Hibon’s took the art direction using both 3D and 2D animation. He also Implied the team at “ChAIR” to re-imagine the main character in his own unique design style, which “ChAIR” approved of. The “Axis” team then developed a render style and technique of Hibon’s vision.
“It became apparent – early on in the development process – that we would need to amend some of the existing game designs to fully realize the original art style we created for this film. The team at ChAIR went one step further and gave us creative license to re-design some of their key characters, and invent some new ones. This gave us incredible freedom to design bespoke silhouettes and lines that would not only serve the narrative, but also create a unique and coherent aesthetic for the film.” said Hibon.
“The team built on techniques they had used when working with Ben on previous projects such as Codehunters and Sucker Punch” said Axis Producer Isabel Arjona. “It was important that we used the right technique in the right place, mixing 3d and 2d animation with digital illustration.”
“Ben is a true animation visionary, pushing 2D and 3D animation in ways unlike anyone else. We are excited to see Ben’s signature style and artistry applied to the Infinity Blade world that we love,” said Donald Mustard, creative director, ChAIR. “The work that Ben and Axis have done for Infinity Blade III exceeds everything we’d envisioned. In a short film, they took the complex story of our universe and presented it in new way where every frame is a work of art.”
To watch the short film here is the link http://www.axisanimation.com/index.php?id=1086&loc=Work
