I got permission from the lovely folks at @Bungie to share some of the work I did as Art Director on the Destiny 2 expansion cinematics.

Working with @axisstudiosgrp is a dream, and my contribution is just a part of the process.

Let's start with Uldren's Rebirth and Warmind

On Rebirth I worked with my great friend, director Sava Zivkovic, and an amazing wee team to bring Uldren back from death.

These are some key concepts I painted to establish the overall look and feel of the film!

Go check the cinematic and credits here:
https://axisstudiosgroup.com/work/destiny-2-rebirth

I also worked up some matte paintings based on those concepts. Here they are next to the actual shots!

On some projects I'll bring on other concept artists/matte painters, but I really wanted to do it all on this one

Next up, Warmind! This is one of my absolute favourite projects, once again working with Sava and a beautiful team:
https://www.axisstudiosgroup.com/work/destiny-2-warmind/

Here we have some early concepts and colour scripts based on Sava's previs, as well as Ana's ID card which appears in-game!

I had a really specific palette in mind for this one, and these colour scripts were a way to break down how it would feel throughout the film.

The ice was a super technical challenge, but as always the team was more than up to it!

Midway through production my job changes to painting over the assets produced by the 3D team. It's a constant back and forth, and super rewarding.

The last shot here is a breakdown of my sky concept for our amazing matte painter, Steven Cormann.

Many AAA cinematics are in development at the same time as the game/expansion itself, so the two teams interface all the time. Here are some concepts I did for our interpretation of the ice thralls, as well as Ana's eyes and a mockup of her vision!

Finally, some more obvious art direction so that you can hopefully get a feel for how communication works on the project. Getting to work with such talented artists is just a dream come true, and I'm always humbled to do so

I hope that was an interesting wee adventure!

I'll share work from the other cinematics soon, but in the meantime you can check out this thread I wrote about my work on the franchise:
https://twitter.com/abigbat/status/1155240664650715138?lang=en

And follow me on @ArtStationHQ for more:
https://www.artstation.com/paulscottcanavan