PROJECT
THE MARTIAN
ROLE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CONCEPT/STORY
DESIGNER
ANIMATOR
"ARES 3 FAREWELL"
In their final moments before journeying to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney recorded an intimate tour of the Hermes spaceship and downlinked the video to Earth for broadcast. The stream included an introduction to each member of the ARES 3 crew and a farewell message from Mark. "Farewell" launched our prologue campaign for Ridley Scott's The Martian, establishing an emotional back story for the characters, introducing the mission, and giving people their first look at the cast. WhatCulture called it "the best teaser you'll see all year."
From the outset, we were inspired by a simple idea: depict the Ares III astronauts as celebrities and follow the events of the mission in a manner that blurred fiction and reality. The result was this film, which was inspired by the playfulness of early Apollo-era documentary videos and Chris Hadfield's recordings from I.S.S. To add an extra layer of reality, we designed and animated a Facebook Live-like social media feed, complete with messages for the crew, trending topics, and individual crew facts.
CREDITS
Directed by: Luke Scott
Produced by: 3AM & RSA Films
Creative Director: Chris Eyerman
Concept: Chris Eyerman, Will Melton
Concept: Luke Scott
Writer: Will Melton
Producer: James Smith
DP: Mark Patten
Editor: Nick Temple
GFX & Animation: Chris Eyerman
Post Producer: Mike Goble
MP, 3AM: Alison Temple, Jules Daly
MD, RSA UK: Kai-Lu Hsiung
Assistant Editor: Steven Sinardi
PRESS COVERAGE
Huffington Post
Wired
Mashable
i09
CNET
EW
TheVerge
Hypebeast
FastCo.
Blastr
Vulture
ars technica
Empire Online
Complex
AOL.on
The Guardian
IGN
Slashfilm
WhatCulture
Irish Examiner
High Snobiety
Cinemablend
Collider
ScreenRant
Popular Mechanics
FirstShowing
Nerdist
DailyMail
Christian Post
Evening Standard
Outer Places
Geek Tyrant
Geek.com
ComicBook
DailyDot
UpRoxx
Flickering Myth
VIEWS TO DATE
4.5M+
PRAISE
What Culture: "The best teaser you’ll see all year."
Huffington Post: "Oh, thank god. Finally, a space movie promo that isn't intense, terrifying or overly emotional."
EW: "Forget trailers..."
Slashfilm: "A charming introduction to the characters."