MIHIR LELE
COMICSTAAN 2- PACKAGING PITCH
Direction | Illustration | Animation | Visualisation
Client
OML Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
for Amazon Prime Video India
Direction
Mihir Lele
Music
Ritviz
Brief
I was approached to conceptualise and design the opening sequence for the second season of Amazon Prime's original series "Comicstaan". For this, their only brief was the following-
1. To take the story forward from Season 1's packaging- where all the judges were seen coming to "Comicstaan" using different modes of transport.
2. To use real images of the judges' faces and not illustrate them, for immediate audience connect.
The sequence was pitched as an exploration of a new style and concept from the agency's end (OML Entertainment) to be presented to Amazon Prime Video.
Synopsis
A number of concepts for the packaging were pitched to the client. All concept ideas began from a point where the judges had reached "Comicstaan" using different modes of transport and were now about to embark on a new journey.
The selected idea, the one that was finally developed as a pitch, has "Comicstaan" being treated as an amusement park/ theme park. The film begins with a shot of the parking area, where we see the different modes of transport from the earlier season, parked. As we move into the park, we are introduced to the judges, each in-charge of a particular ride/ activity, that has a direct connect to the unique comedic styling showcased on the show, of the said judge. For example, Zakir Khan is seen on a rollercoaster called "Twisted Tales" as his form of comedy involves vivid storytelling. Kanan Gill is seen on a ferris wheel called "The Wheel of Observations" as his form of comedy is primarily observational. This way, the packaging was developed keeping in mind each judge's individual comedic style.
Process
A storyboard was presented to the client detailing out each judge's activity. Then using this approved storyboard as a reference, each judge was photographed (in burst photo mode) as per the action he/she was doing in the sequence. So, multiple photographs were taken in such a way that the head could be used on an animated body and wouldn't look out of place.
(Above) with Kaneez Surka, who is seen doing a magic trick, the action was performed during the photoshoot to get the expressions right.
(Above) Since Biswa Kalyan Rath is seen breathing fire, he had to be photographed in a way that the action is completed- from facing the camera to blowing the fire side-ways (almost like a stop motion).
Once this was done, these animated characters were placed with their animated ride/ activity board in the theme park and a single shot with a continuous 3d camera movement, going from one judge to the other, was achieved.
The entire process took about 55-60 days of work including conceptualising the sequence, photographing the judges, animating the sequence using Adobe Animate, Photoshop and After effects and compositing it in a 3d space, in After Effects.
An alternate color option was presented to the client as well (images below). But they decided to go with the blue and yellow color theme as it was in tune with the overall show branding. The other aesthetics, including the textures and fonts were also kept in tune with the other packaging elements within the show, as these elements were designed before the packaging by another design agency, and served as reference for the design language of the packaging.