The Passage • Series Launch



For FOX’s viral-vampire drama, The Passage, the in-house design team created a visual identity that tempers the horror element with a softer, filmic touch. The FOX Design team worked with specialized cinematographer Christopher Webb to capture macro imagery and in-camera titles through practical production techniques. Organic textures weave through the designs as a visual and metaphoric ‘connective tissue’ that ties the characters of the story together. Live-action photographic plates served as the foundation for additional design and VFX work.


Process • Concepting



Above is some of our initial tone and visual inspriation references. With this we approached in-camera FX guru Christopher Webb to shoot macro elements and in-camera titles for the project.  Below is a BTS look at that shoot.




From there we delved into the design process.  While we had a good sense of the visual themes and imagery we
wanted, there was still much room for exploration.  Below is a sampling of some of those initial explorations.


Below: Style frames of the final direction. 



From there we created a toolkit to package episodic promos.  We also mounted a 2nd shoot with Mr. Webb to pick up
imagery with the show’s talent.  Material from that shoot were worked into a series of character vignette spots that ran across broadcast
and social media platforms.


Broadcast Campaign Designs





Character Vignettes


These spots ran on broadcast as a roadblock during the season 5 premiere of Gotham.  The intention was to build upon and blur th lines between our Broadcast Design elements and the live-action talent footage.


Below: A sequence of all 10 character pieces.





Integrated Campaign.


Examples of other elements in the campaign that drew from the visual groundwork we laid ( Key Art, Digital, etc.)








Highlight Reel


This is a mega-cut created to highlight the design, VFX and photography work we did for the launch campaign.




Thanks to the teams who help support this vision.
::FOX Credits ::
VP, Broadcast Design: Ian MacRitchie
Design Director: Jesse Hallas
Motion Graphics Design Director: Scott Shassberger
Lead Designer/Compositor: Julie Zack
Character Vignette Editor: Lance Larson
::Vendor Credits::
Cinematographer: Christopher Webb
Shoot Producer: Lavanya Radhakrishna
Production Company: Artifex Productions
Production Facilities: FX WRX (NYC), Pinewood Atlanta
Megacut Score & Mix: Chris White, Comrade Studios  Additional Design Exploration: Ballast Design (LA)