Interview with Ben Hibon

And it’s for that reason that it didn’t change my way of working. It’s just made me want to do more of that kind of work, where the world you create serves purpose to a story, not to sell a product or a commercial message.

IA: Have you worked or do you still work on Heavenly Sword with Sony Staff?

 BH: Once this project was awarded to us we had an initial meeting with Ninja Theory to go over the ideas behind the story of the game. We decided together the story arc that would structure the episodes. We worked closely with the team at Sony and Ninja Theory making sure that the anime series would fit with the universe of the game. This was the most important aspect of the project; to make something new and different but in the same time it had to fit with the already existing world of the game. Very early on in the production I had access to all of the great game concepts. I was always aware of the feel of the game while I was designing the look of the anime, and that was important to tie the whole project together.

 IA: Can you speak about how the characters, the background and the mood of this animated series have been conceived?

BH: One of the first things that I wanted to do with this project was create an addition to the game, not just a deviated sub-product. One way to achieve this was to avoid going for the same render as the game’s cut-scenes and instead go for a much more stylized and simple look.

Heavenly Sword. Ep2 : Guardians of the Sword

 This allowed me to create a complete visual re-interpretation of the world and its inhabitants. Because of the short length of each episode the settings had to be very thematic and the action broke down to the bare minimum. This overall simplification had an impact on the visual style; the characters are bold and iconic, and the environments are dramatic and engaging. The color palette follows the same concept with a very limited selection of colors that mark each stage in the unfolding of the story. I worked each scene with a similar concept of creating a contrast between good and evil using lights and shadows. These symbols create a story within the story, a hidden visual language that I use to emphasize the main storyline.