Visceral action rendered with exacting draftsmanship by director Louve Sarfati Karnas and the animation crew at The Line in London elevate this new launch trailer for Supergiant Games’ Hades II franchise set for release on Sept 25.

Louve Sarfati Karnas: “Video games have always been my biggest source of inspiration, there’s nothing quite like it really. The artistry that goes into creating a game, creating stories that suddenly become tactile, tales that immerse you through interactivity, how incredible is that?

“That’s why collaborating with Supergiant games, who’s had such a huge impact on who I am as an artist, was such a personal and incredible experience. I wanted to create a film that invoked as much depth and nuance, both narratively and visually, as the game itself. A grandiose spectacle that carries a very personal story about self worth, chosen family, and facing adversity.
 

“I wanted to create a film that invoked as much depth and nuance, both narratively and visually, as the game itself.”

 
From the The line: “We wanted the visuals to have a distinct, graphic style, with lots of texture on both the backgrounds and the characters. That kind of look is pretty easy to pull off in a still frame, but once everything starts moving, it gets trickier.

“To make it work, we applied pre-rendered textures to the characters (using the Video Gogh plug-in in After Effects) so they would blend with the heavily textured environments.

“Another key part of the process was nailing the character performance. The witch ritual in Hades has a very specific feel, and we wanted the character movements to be as authentic and precise as possible. To achieve this we choreographed and filmed a sequence which we used as an animation reference.”
 
 

 
Client: Supergiant Games

Production: The Line
Director: Louve Sarfati Karnas
Producer: Kateřina Grecová
Art Director: Meryl Franck
Animation Lead: Amanda Jespersen Holm
Cleanup Lead: Eleonora Quario
Lead Character Designer: Amanda Jespersen Holm
Compositing Lead: Clarisse Valeix
Production Manager: Michaela Dede
PA: Ed Farish
PA Support: Daisy Link
MD of Commercials & Branded Content: Laura Breaden
ECD: Tim McCourt
EP: Tan Baptista
Head of Production: Nick Miller
Head of Animation: Kwok Fung Lam
Head of Compositing: Freddie Lewis-Wall
Head of Art: Juancho Crespo
Head of CG: Pete Addington
Talent & Scheduling Coordinator: Jesus Ovejero

Music: Darren Korb / Supergiant

Sound Design/Mix: Box of Toys Audio