Oberkommando West
Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies
Directing . Cinematography . Choreography . Set Dressing . Editing . Colour Correction . Production .Script
Other Credits:
Sound Mix and Design: Bryan Rennie
In-Game FX design and placement: Rob Heartley
All other assets produced by Relic Entertainment
 
This is the second trailer I worked on, following the completion of the US Forces trailer. It took me around three weeks to complete, with no breaks, which left me feeling quite exhausted. The opening shot is one of my personal favorites, but unfortunately, I made a significant error by not maximizing the shadow draw distance on the camera, which becomes noticeable when the camera tracks the bombs falling. This mistake frustrates me every time I watch it.
I've never been fond of using text slates in trailers, and I particularly disliked having to include one at the beginning of the third scene. I wanted to create a seamless transition between the snow dust at the end of scene 2 and the smoke in the introduction to scene 3, but I couldn't find a better spot for the slate other than between the scenes.
I also faced a bit of trouble while making this trailer. The final scene takes place at night, which looked fantastic, but we didn't have any night maps available at the time. One customer even requested a refund because they were hoping to play night map missions. However, this mistake ended up being beneficial, as many players enjoyed the concept of night missions, and we began working on them.
This trailer solely employs canned animations from the game and blends scripted scenes and gameplay shots. Scripted shots with a handheld camera are my first time attempting such a style as opposed to the usual rail shots in my previous work. While I don't have an animation background, I received excellent support from the lead animator, Brent Breedveld, and art director, Ian Cummin.
Looking back, I believe I could have edited the trailer more tightly. It was difficult to cut certain shots since I had worked so hard on them, but I managed to do so effectively. A few shots didn't make the final cut for both trailers.
↑Back to Top