The Summer issue of Man of Metropolis is out, and available now. Chris Gernon is featured speaking on behalf of Fugitives Editorial, sharing our philosophy, origin story, and some insight into our previous year here at Fugitives. Specifically on our virtual reality project, Francis, as well as a piece we created for Walt Disney World’s Magic Bands, using the infamous Edna, of the Incredibles. Check out the interview below and learn more about Fugitives & Chris Gernon.
We’re outsiders who strive toward the unexpected, and where unique and creative solutions thrive over the common place practices of our competitors.
Chris Gernon, Summer issue, Man of Metropolis magazine.
1. Where did the idea of Fugitives Editorial come from?
Fugitives came out of frustration with the way traditional creative shop approached a challenge. We knew there was a better way, that’s more efficient, yet immensely collaborative and creative. We are Fugitives from the marketing and advertising industry. We’re outsiders who strive toward the unexpected, and where unique and creative solutions thrive over the common place practices of our competitors.
2. What project are you most proud of this far since launching the company? Why?
Our favorite projects are those where we’re giving the opportunity to play…where the challenge is do something different. I can list several projects over the years like this. Disney Parks asked us to create a marketing campaign for the release of the new Magic Band at Walt Disney World. We were given the character of Edna, the costume designer from The Incredibles as our spokesperson. The challenge was to use 90% of existing animation and to repurpose as much as we could. Saving time and resources on creating new animation. So we worked with the Pixar to collect all of the original assets from the flm archives, we created new backgrounds and characters to fill out the story. We even got Brad Bird, the original voice of Edna to record new dialogue. This was a perfect project to illustrate what Fugitives can do. See the Edna video, here.
Another really amazing project for us was a recent virtual reality film we created to shed light on the global problem of mental illness. Our film focused on one man name Francis. We felt his story resonated with us and so with that, we traveled to a small village in Ghana where we could capture the environment and Francis himself to tell his story in his own words and voice, while we took the viewer on a journey into his isolation. We used the virtual reality format to create these worlds where the view could sit in the places his sat and experience for a few moments what he experienced for over 2 years. We found visual motifs and created a visual story structure to accentuate the experience for the viewer. The process was incredibly rewarding and throughout it, we were challenged to push the boundaries of how we tell stories in virtual reality. This project was successful not only because of its ability to create social change in the world but also because we were able to do something no one has been able to do.
3. What is most exciting to you about where media is going? Why?
Emerging technologies and formats like virtual reality or augmented reality are in their infancies. With so many amazing companies like AMD, HP, Adobe and Mettle who are supporting and developing new computers, graphic cards, software and even plugins, the help those of us who look to these new mediums is our future. We leverage these companies and their products to help those of us who are creators – do what we do best and tell stories. I’m so excited to see where the next 5 years take us. I believe we’ll see a mixture of all formats come together as a both a shared and singular experience. I think we’ll see this in movies first with the ability to move off the movie screen and into an augmented reality world. I just hope that in this transition we focus on storytelling where we use this tool only for the purpose of telling better stories and not for spectacle.
4. We watched your reel, you have worked on some big projects and with some BIG names; what have you learned from the last year?
With each year, we learn and discover better ways of working. For us, the process is as important as the result and we try to push the envelope in any way we can. We’re also very clear that good creative comes from good collaboration with our clients. All of our most successful projects begin with experimentation and having a good conversation about what works and doesn’t work with everyone involved before we settle into a path. The best creative approach come from finding new and fresh ways of solving a problem. To understand that every problem is unique and deserves a custom solution.
5. If you could hit one summer concert and create some video experience from the footage who or what band would it be and why?
Definitely Bjork, she’s coming to Disney Concert Hall in May. Bjork through the years has pushed the boundaries of visual media and I’m excited to see what she’s done next.
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