Brief
The SHOWTIME® Original Series, The Man Who Fell To Earth tells the story of Faraday, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, a mysterious alien who arrives on Earth with a clear purpose – bring water back to his home planet and save his species. After landing in New Mexico, he connects with brilliant scientist Justin Falls, played by Naomie Harris, and together they embark on a bold mission. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear in order for the unlikely duo to save his world, they must first save human existence on Earth.
We were tasked with creating a 3D billboard to help launch the new series, along with an interactive physical installation for the Brooklyn Museum.
Approach
To tease the show’s story, we’d need to find an artful and innovative way that was as fitting for an art museum as it was for a towering digital display in Times Square. In the series, Justin and Faraday’s fates are intertwined: they must come together to save both their home planets. Our creative starts with two galaxies at opposite ends of space — each representing the journey of the two characters — that swirl into one another and become inextricably linked.
From that alien landscape, something distinctly human emerges: two faces. Faraday and Falls react to the Earthly scene in front of them, and to one another as if meeting for the first time. As Faraday accepts the full weight of his mission, his expression changes to one of stoic determination. The stars forming his face cluster into a bright supernova before falling out of frame, plummeting to the Earth below.
Impact
The corner wrap billboard was utilized to create an anamorphic illusion. The story plays out as a linear animation where faces appear to break out of the frame and into 3D space. The result was a unique, larger-than-life piece that stood out from the crowd of typical ads surrounding it in Times Square.
For the companion experience at the museum, the billboard creative was reimagined as an interactive installation. The same narrative was used, but this time the characters’ fate was put into the user’s hands—literally. The story was controlled with hand gestures detected by a motion sensor provided by Ultraleap.
We were delighted to see museum visitors interacting with the experience in fun and unexpected ways—from a woman who moved galaxies around using tai chi moves, to groups of children who played with the experience elements endlessly.