Shell Yeah!

TMNT Splintered Fate

the brief

I was brought on by the lovely team at The Trailerfarm to create Motion Graphics for TMNT’s Splintered Fate Release Trailer, enhancing game capture with custom text slates and transitions. The challenge? Designing mostly from scratch with a distinct look and feel, all while navigating Paramount’s IP review—despite having no set guidelines. One of the biggest hurdles was ensuring that the motion graphics connected seamlessly and intentionally with the gameplay capture, creating a cohesive flow throughout the trailer. Super Evil Megacorp gave us some rough direction, but I had to concept each text slate, character splash and transition on the fly in order to stay flexible, as the client wanted plenty of variation throughout the process.

Role: Motion Graphics, Asset Creation, Art Direction

Software Used: After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator

Client: The Trailerfarm, Super Evil MegaCorp, Paramount, Nintendo

the results

The launch trailer made waves, surpassing a million views on YouTube within just one month. The snappy edit combined bold motion graphics and punchy visuals to captivate audiences both old and new. The action-packed trailer, complete with dynamic comic-book styling and carefully curated gameplay, resonated strongly with fans, driving significant engagement for the Switch launch. The trailer not only elevated the visual storytelling but also helped bring a fresh perspective to this iconic IP, contributing to the campaign’s wide-reaching success.

Crafting the Vision

Text Slate Exploration

Our first step was to conceptualize the look and feel for the text slates. After several rounds of initial concepting, we landed on Concept 04—a direction that perfectly captured the tone of the game.

Originally, the plan was to create a single text slate style and reuse it throughout the trailer. However, once Concept 04 was finalized, we decided to elevate it further by introducing character splashes, highlighting each turtle in a unique and dynamic way.

  • concept 01

    concept 01

    The client asked me to “Draw inspiration from: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," I crafted a dynamic text slate featuring half-tones, RGB splits, and the bold colors of the portal. The turtle silhouettes added some contrast and a graphic punch. While visually striking, the client felt it strayed too far from the in-game aesthetic and promotional key art.

  • concept 02

    concept 02

    Taking the client's feedback into account, we attempted to incorporate key art elements into the text slates. However, this approach proved visually cluttered, especially when accommodating longer copy. We decided to explore alternative directions.

  • concept 03

    concept 03

    We revisited the initial concept, refining it by focusing on the portal element of the game. We removed the turtle silhouettes and adjusted the color scheme to enhance readability and accessibility. The client appreciated this streamlined approach but wanted to further explore text slate options.

  • concept 04

    concept 04

    This concept cleverly utilized key art of a turtle character to highlight their name in a dynamic way. It resonated strongly with the client, because it aligned closely with the in-game UI and assets. This direction was selected for further development.

  • Concept 05

    Concept 05

    Our final exploration involved shattering the gameplay screen with turtle key art to create space for copy. The client found this concept intriguing, and we set it aside for potential future development in another phase of the project.

Transitioning with Style

Next up, we focused on concepting transition animatics to elevate the edit. These concepts would serve as seamless cuts between shots and enhance the on-screen character splashes. Below are a few animatic transitions we explored before locking them into the final edit.

  • concept 01

    concept 01

    I repurposed a dynamic lighting shape from the game's UI to create a visually striking transition effect. By incorporating halftones, we achieved a comic book aesthetic that stylised the transition while maintaining brand consistency.

  • concept 02

    concept 02

    Leveraging Leonardo's key art, I conceptualised an animated transition where the character appears to slice open the screen. This high-impact visual was designed to create memorable moments within the trailer, emphasising the dynamic nature of the gameplay and characters.

  • concept 03

    concept 03

    Expanding on the concept of a breaking screen, we envisioned a transition where the display cracks open dramatically. The resulting shards serve a dual purpose: highlighting key characters and showcasing gameplay footage. This technique allows for dynamic visual storytelling and seamless scene transitions.

Polishing the Details

Polishing the Details

With concepting complete, we began sharing drafts with the client for feedback. Below demonstrates the feedback loop we navigated, making adjustments along the way to align with the clients vision and pass Paramount’s IP review

Leonardo

We focused on perfecting a single text slate design to establish a cohesive visual language across all assets. Leonardo's slate was selected as the prototype for this process. Key refinements included:

  1. Texture Integration: Introduced a gritty paint brush stroke texture and vignette, enhancing contrast against the background.

  2. Background Enhancement: Removed reflections to create a cleaner backdrop.

  3. Typography Emphasis: Eliminated the text box, allowing typography to occupy more screen space and share focus with the character artwork.

  4. Colour Correction: adjustments to Key Art colours to better intergrate Leonardo in to the backdrop.

raphael

Raphael’s concept took inspiration from Concept 05 during the text slate exploration, where key art shatters through the screen. Building on this idea, I redesigned the slate for Raphael and worked through client feedback to refine the look. Key adjustments included:

  1. Color Correction: Blending Raphael’s key art more seamlessly with the backdrop.

  2. Graphic Refinement: Shaping the shards and wall break for optimal visibility of key art while maintaining text clarity.

  3. Typography Emphasis: Removing the text box to let the typography command more screen space, sharing focus with the character art.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo's text slate evolved through multiple versions, initially taking on a comic book feel with bold outlines and saturated colors. It was later refined to align better with the other slates, with key updates including:

  1. Color Corrections: This slate saw the most color tweaks, as the client explored various options. We settled on a mid-saturated orange and yellow to make the key art pop against the background.

  2. Graphic Styling: Adjustments to the key art, including an added leg to Mikey and alignment tweaks to his pose.

  3. Typography Emphasis: Removing the text box allowed the typography to take up more space, sharing the stage with the character art.

Donatello

Donatello’s text slate required minimal revisions, aligning seamlessly with the other designs. Key adjustments included:

  1. Key Art Adjustments: Significant paint-over and tweaks were made to animate Donatello in the way that was required.

  2. Typography Layout Refinement: Multiple layout adjustments ensured a dynamic typography that complemented the energy of the key art.

  3. Concept Unification: Larger halftone patterns and color corrections brought this slate in harmony with the others and seamlessly matching the backdrop.

honing transitions

shredder

We needed a powerful transition to introduce Shredder, the main villain. Initially planned as a text slate, the idea evolved into a transition effect instead. I created several versions of a “rip” effect to frame the type, ultimately settling on a transition that places Shredder in center, and a focus on creating a 2.5D illusion. After a few rounds of feedback, we landed on a final version that captured the intensity the client envisioned.

shards

For the last shot, we wanted maximum impact for the transition to the endframe. Revisiting Concept 03 from the transition design phase, we explored various shard shapes and compositions, experimenting with gameplay and character inserts. Through rounds of feedback and refinement, we achieved a final look that I’m incredibly proud of.

conclusion

This project brought the challenge of merging dynamic motion graphics with iconic characters, delivering a trailer that honors the TMNT legacy while adding fresh energy. From initial concepts to final refinements, each element was crafted to create a seamless, impactful experience—one that both fans and the client could be proud of.