Carbon thrills with C+K on new Cedar Fair campaign

Cedar Fair’s “Railblazer”

Following the success of Carbon’s creepily ominous 2017 teaser film for Mystic Timbers, Cramer-Krasselt Senior Art Director David Vaca and his team hatched an idea to bring four roller coasters to life by diving deep into the themes and backstories of each one.

Working across four 30-second films simultaneously and commanding a “tri-coastal” team of super-skilled artists, Carbon CD Liam Chapple shared directing duties with lead artists Tim Little and Gary Fouchy. Each of them plunged into the tropes, themes, and stylings of their respective story.

The results are separate and distinct mini-epics that boast unique visual language, color grades, camera framing, and edits: a lone gun-slinger arriving to town at sundown in the wild west; the carefree and nostalgic surf culture of California; and extreme off-roading adventures in the twisting canyons of the southwest.

 
CEDAR FAIR RAILBLAZER

 

“This was a fantastic opportunity to expand on our body of full CGI-direction work, to explore some interesting looks and styles, and to come up with some very creative workflows across all three offices to achieve two minutes of animation in just a few weeks,” said Carbon Managing Director Phil Linturn. “The fact that these four films are part of a much bigger broadcast campaign comprising 70+ broadcast spots is a testament to the focus and range of the production team.”

 
CEDAR FAIR TWISTED TIMBERS

 

Carbon’s approach was dictated by the tight deadlines of four simultaneous projects. To achieve the proper richness, tone, and detail, the company blended stylized CGI with hyper-real matte paintings and realistic lighting.

 
CEDAR FAIR STEEL VENGEANCE

 

The final collection boasts a variety of styles, including a children’s storybook, a contemporary manga animation, the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, and one or two of the company’s favorite Pixar films.

“Bringing the stories and thrills of Cedar Fair rides to life is a fun creative challenge for C-K, year after year,” said C+K Senior Art Director David Vaca. “Carbon has been a great partner in this because they understand our creative vision and make sure the final work looks better than we could have imagined.”

 
CEDAR FAIR HANGTIME

 

“We always love working with Cramer-Krasselt,” adds Linturn. “They come with awesome concepts and an open mind, challenging us to surprise them with each new deck.”

Credits
Client: Cedar Fair

Sound Design and Audio Post: SUM1
   Sound Designer / Mixer: Robert Marshall
   Producer: Shawn Ballman

 
Send your creative news to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.