Audible | THE MIRANDA OBSESSIOn

In our promotional spot for Audible’s “The Miranda Obsession,” set against the vibrant backdrop of 1980s Hollywood, we embraced the challenge of visually interpreting this gripping drama’s thematic essence. Directed by our creative team, the spot is both a homage to and a reinterpretation of the era, encapsulated through innovative animation techniques and stylistic choices.

To align closely with the series’ character-driven narrative and its 1980s setting, we developed custom in-house toon shaders. These shaders were specifically crafted to echo the key art produced for the series, creating a visual continuity that connects our work directly with the primary promotional materials. This approach allowed us to maintain a cohesive aesthetic that fans could easily recognize and appreciate.

Furthermore, we introduced a treatment for the footage that mimicked the distinctive look and feel of old VHS tapes, a nod to the technology prevalent during the series’ period. This effect added an authentic retro vibe to the animation, enhancing the nostalgic atmosphere while grounding the viewing experience in the decade’s visual texture.

The narrative of our spot centers around the concept of various men navigating a series of obstacles in their quest to reach Miranda. By playing with scale and using a telephone cord as a central motif, we created a surreal, obstacle-laden journey that metaphorically represents their pursuit. Miranda is portrayed as a colossal, larger-than-life figure throughout the animation, reminiscent of the “Attack of the 50 ft Woman,” emphasizing the unattainable and mythical status she holds in their lives.

This creative direction not only reflects the series’ exploration of obsession and desire but also showcases our studio’s capability to blend innovative animation techniques with thematic storytelling, delivering a visually captivating and thematically rich promotional spot.

 

Custom Toon Shaders

Our team developed a sophisticated toon shader toolset, designed to replicate the illustrated look of the series’ key art with high fidelity. By leveraging a combination of fresnel effects and ambient occlusion, we crafted shaders that enhanced the visual depth and contours of the characters and environments, echoing the distinct stylization found in traditional illustrations. Additionally, our use of advanced shader and compositing techniques allowed for nuanced control over the color grading and edge detection, which further aligned our animations with the artistic flair of the series’ visuals. This custom shader toolset enabled us to achieve a seamless integration between the animations and the key art, ensuring that every frame not only resonated with the thematic elements of the series but also mirrored its unique aesthetic style meticulously.

 

Playing With Scale

We manipulated scale and camera techniques to dramatize the elusive allure of the character Miranda. We constructed a colossal telephone environment as the central stage for the animation, where characters not only navigated a gigantic telephone cord but also ventured through the oversized speaker holes of the handset. These exaggerated scales were pivotal in creating a surreal, larger-than-life world that visually represented the unreachable, mythical status of Miranda. The camera work was carefully orchestrated to enhance this effect, often shifting perspectives to emphasize the daunting size differences and the Herculean efforts of the characters attempting to reach Miranda. This creative use of scale and perspective powerfully underscored the theme of unattainability, making Miranda appear as a distant, almost mythical figure in the eyes of her pursuers.

 

Playing With Scale

We manipulated scale and camera techniques to dramatize the elusive allure of the character Miranda. We constructed a colossal telephone environment as the central stage for the animation, where characters not only navigated a gigantic telephone cord but also ventured through the oversized speaker holes of the handset. These exaggerated scales were pivotal in creating a surreal, larger-than-life world that visually represented the unreachable, mythical status of Miranda. The camera work was carefully orchestrated to enhance this effect, often shifting perspectives to emphasize the daunting size differences and the Herculean efforts of the characters attempting to reach Miranda. This creative use of scale and perspective powerfully underscored the theme of unattainability, making Miranda appear as a distant, almost mythical figure in the eyes of her pursuers.

CREDITS

Client: Audible

Agency: Gravillis

Directors: Rocket Lab Creative