2024

ABSOLUM

Direction / Visual Development

I had the great pleasure of creating and directing the launch trailer for Absolum, produced by Supamonks and Dotemu.

The game's art director, Maxime Mary, invited me to join this animated trailer project from scratch. I had to write the script based on my understanding of the game, with the only guideline being: "Show the universe and introduce the characters. We need a fight sequence, but not only that." I presented three ideas, and we selected one, a mix of a real cinematographic first act and a big fight sequence for the second act.

I worked hand in hand with the great David Pagaille on the storyboard and animatic while simultaneously creating style frames and a color board to define the film's visual identity. I wanted something highly illustrative but layered with a strong cinematic feel. I drew heavy inspiration from Mike Mignola’s work, as well as the film Dead Leaves. On the cinematographic side, I have always been deeply influenced by expressionism and strong narrative lighting, much like Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, or Murnau, to name a few.

Sound design was also a crucial element, as the film is silent. I wanted to play with off-screen sounds, especially during the tower shot and in the tavern scene. Then, the multi-award-winning Gareth Coker, who composed the game’s original soundtrack, created the music for the trailer and did a fantastic job.

I worked on background layouts and paintings with the amazing help of Victor Delorme. Meanwhile, the animation team, led by Léonard Bismuth, who also worked on the game, was bringing the characters to life, while Paul Bouchart handled special effects, both delivering outstanding work.

Finally, compositing with Guillaume Cassuto was a major step in achieving the film’s cinematic feel. It allowed us to blend characters and FX with backgrounds, refine the color grading, and stay as faithful as possible to the initial color board.

Styleframes