Show me the machinima

Another feature in the March issue of Wired discusses "rotoscoping" - the process of painting over live actors to create cartoon characters with realistic movement.  Charles Schwab had used this treatment in 2005 and I think another FS company has been using it recently (Citibank?). 

It's great to see more creative treatments making their way to the 30-second spot.  After Blair Witch, we saw a lot of documentary-style spots, like Toyota's recent Tacoma ads.  We also did manga-style campaigns at PUMA for our 2002 football advertising.

As gaming goes mainstream - with corporations finally wake up to the huge untapped potential therein - it's just a matter of time before we see more machinima-style TV ads.  It would make perfect sense for brands that have crossover with a hardcore gamer audience - like Mountain Dew, Nike, or Scion, not to mention the console manufacturers.  Some companies have gotten close - I remember a Volvo S40 ad with some in-game footage - but there's an execution using a FPS approach out there just begging to be created (that doesn't promote a video game).

Oh, and if you're reading this and can point out examples where it's already happened - please post links!!!

Tags:  advertising, rotoscoping, manga, machinima