As fighters demonstrate their mixed martial arts maneuvers,
the animated tattoo graphics swirl around them and react to their punches and
kicks. The video closes with a shot of one fighter's muscular back, as a tribal
tattoo scrolls across it, creating the WEC logo and chain-link fence.
The tattoos were created in 3D and Nailgun mixed in some
textures from a Las Vegas gym in order to add authenticity.
"Versus wanted a more multi-faceted, hardcore
look," explains Erik van der Wilden, director of animation and editorial
at Nailgun. "We ended up shooting nine different fighters, none of whom
had been in front of the camera before. We had a great mix of people, with
smaller fighters, who were into acrobatic jumps and spin kicks, along with
larger guys who were all about strength and power. It was a big challenge to
choreograph these guys, but we ended up with some shots that give a real sense
of what the sport is all about."
Since the sport brings together many different disciplines,
it was important not to emphasize any one fighting style.
Nailgun used Autodesk Maya for animation, along with Adobe's
After Effects, Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2, all running on Macs. Final
Cut Pro was used for the edit.
Credits include creative director/live action director
Michael Waldron, designer/2D animator Jong Soo Kim, designer Arava Sheleff, 2D
animators Chris Harmon and Joon Suck Kim, 3D animator Song Eun Grace Hwang, and
illustrator Jayson Gaylor.