Written by on Nov 26, 2014. Posted in Production News

Anonymous Content and Kate Upton film Slovenia for Game of War campaign

Anonymous Content filmed on location in Slovenia for a new live-action campaign promoting Game of War: Fire Age, a top-selling mobile game. The spot features supermodel Kate Upton inviting gamers to play as a medieval army is terrorised by a fire-breathing dragon.

Ireland was considered as a filming location for the eight-day shoot, as were the Eastern European production hubs in Prague and Croatia.

“Slovenia was in fact recommended by our director Gary Shore,” comments Nik Traxler, Head of Production for agency Untitled Worldwide: “He’d filmed there before, but there was also a cost issue.”

Shore also had experience of filming medieval battle scenes, having shot the vampire movie Dracula Untold on location in Northern Ireland.

The spot features supermodel Kate Upton inviting gamers to play as a medieval army is terrorised by a dragon.

For the Game of War shoot, stunt experts were flown in from the UK and 200 extras were recruited to play the soldiers on the battlefield. Medieval costumes and props were sourced from across Europe and local servicing was provided by Division Productions.

“Weather was the main challenge,” Traxler adds: “We had a beautiful first day of filming and then the rain came. There were some visual effects environment enhancements, but otherwise just the usual challenges of working within such a big genre.”

Games are increasingly being promoted with bold live-action shoots to heighten the sense of drama and audience participation. The trailer for God of War: Ascension – From Ashes recreated ancient Greece in California and took visual cues from Gladiator and 300, while the live-action trailer for the Defiance videogame, a tie-in with the successful TV drama of the same name, used Texas as a stand-in for a dystopian California.

More traditional games have also taken the live-action route, with hardcopy book role-playing game Degenesis recently shooting an atmospheric trailer in Iceland.

Credits:
Client: Machine Zone
Agency: Untitled Worldwide
Executive Creative Director: Eric Cosper
Head of Production: Nik Traxler
Associate Producer: Alyssa Guzman
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Production Service Company: Division Productions, Slovenia
Director: Gary Shore
Executive Producer: Jeff Baron
Director of Photography: John Schwartzman