ABOUT

Transmissions is a studio promotional piece created in CG, with a photo realistic style that echoes the candid photography of the 1970's.

Taking inspiration from reportage photography, we chose a retro look with washed-out colours and vintage furniture to set the scene and tone of the piece. Transmissions has an air of loneliness and isolation through the placement of the Spaceman in a setting that is not the norm for this character- a kid’s birthday party. The viewer is placed at front and centre, from the point of view of the person capturing the day; giving a sense of instant connection and intimacy with the shot and echoing that air of candid family photography.

We decided on a spaceman to give the context of ‘out of place’ with the idea that the suit could act as a metaphorical and literal barrier to his environment as he sits, physically disconnected from the world around him. Interestingly, you cannot see his face through the helmet and yet, you get a sense of how he feels.

We went for a nostalgic undertone with the setting of the kid’s birthday party and those candid family photographs. We’ve all seen the images of a kid’s party, where the mum proudly places the cake centre table and the obligatory photo is taken to capture little Jonny's or Josie's big day. We've likely all been the kid in the photo at some point too, so it was a great opportunity to play with this familiar setting and to hopefully personalise this piece for the viewer.
Associating a spaceman to the idea of childhood and nostalgia allowed a playful nod to the realities of life vs childhood dreams (be it astronaut, fireman, 3D artist…) and what it means to fulfil them. So here we have the perpetual hero, brought very much down to earth* on his big day.

Even spacemen are grounded*, once in a while.

*For the space puns, we apologise!