Children's Card Games!

You guys remember Yugioh?  You know, the anime that used to air on Thee WB around 2002?  Well, last fall we filmed a minisode version of Combo Breakers, which is a video game culture themed show, about playing the trading card game that Yugioh was about.  Perfect branding right!?  Anyways, if you watched the anime you should check out this quick little tribute minisode about it.  We tried to hit all the cliches from the show and stay faithful to all its rules.  Plus, it's pretty funny!

If you're already familiar with the show, this minisode is really about Eric.  Normally Eric is a very responsible, hard worker.  He enjoys organizing paperwork and other office work for VGHL.  But he was a 12 year old once like everyone else, and we all went through weird obsessions at that age, right?  I sure did about Yugioh.  I was one of those kids who brought his cards to school and dueled his friends during recess.  I won a lot too!  Anyways, back to Eric.  Without giving too much away, this is about what happens when that past obsession catches up to you.  To tide you over until the release next week, below is a sneak peek we posted for the minisode awhile back.  And if you love Yugioh spoofs, you gotta check out Little Kuriboh's Yugioh Abridged. It's pure genius.

Preview's not much, but you can expect a lot of cool effects in the scenes following the intro.  See that Mystical Elf picture up top?  Her skin wasn't blue at first.  That's all visual effects.  Remember all the flashy effects that came with the holographic duels?  You can expect those too.  I tried some new techniques inside After Effects to get some of the digital sparks in front of AND behind the characters.  Y=It sounds like something boring, but it's one of those details that really goes a long way to selling an effect.  I also experimented with incorporating lens flares to sell other effects like explosions and lightning.  I'd been noticing their increased use in movies over the past couple years.  Especially when it comes to lens flares and lightning in movies like Thor and The Avengers.  We'll see how it pans out.

And random hilarious side note:  Ever since filming this minisode I've created a cult of grown students playing Yugioh again.  We play it all the time at the station now.  Synchros and XYZ cards and everything.  Way more complicated then you'll see in the minisode, but just as fun as back in the day!

Update on Monday, July 2, 2012 at 11:27PM by Steven Zurita

Well hey, here's the finished episode that I was talking about!!! Be sure to leave your comments below.