French video game developer Quantic Dream commissioned The Mill/MPC to create a fully CG short film to showcase Balenciaga’s Fall 2021 collection. Balenciaga referenced the “twenty-tens” gaming era ('The Last of Us', 'Tomb Raider', and particularly the Quantic Dream 2013 hit title 'Beyond Two Souls'). They wanted to recreate a film that evoked the same feelings and tonality of classic interactive gaming.
After the success of The Mill/MPC's work on Balenciaga’s Spring 22 Clones Collection and Winter 20, the teams were tasked to create a videogame, love story aesthetic in a VR-obsessed future dystopia. The Mill/MPC used full VFX and CG to bring this epic feature to life. The team used the latest on motion capture techniques to create animated versions of real-life people.
The film and marketing stills debuted on the Balenciaga website and social media channels in June 2021 as part of an integrated campaign. In the first week of launch, the film racked up over 60k views on YouTube and garnered widespread acclaim across the fashion press with features in Vogue, HYPEBEAST and Hapers Bazaar.
Balenciaga
Quantic Dream
“Utilizing the strength of real-time rendering we were able to quickly compose the stills and render out high resolution assets ready to be rolled out on all of the Balenciaga social platforms. These visuals helped drive the exposure of both the upcoming Fall 21 collection but also give a glimpse into the virtual realm that is ‘Afterworld’.”
This campaign marks The Mill/MPC’s fourth collaboration with the brand, following Balenciaga’s Summer 21 Pre-collection video directed by Walter Stern, the Winter 20 collection video which saw MPC create colossal cinematic visuals for the brand’s Paris Fashion Week show, and the recent Digital Clones Spring 22 runway film (below) directed by Quentin Deronzier.
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