Born from the mind of IV illustrator Michael Cribbs, Windrunners is an upcoming novel that transports us to an alternative timeline where ace pilots and their flying machines battle for control of the skies.
When the IV team caught wind of Michael’s literary pursuits, we came up with the idea of making a trailer and ran with it (puns very much intended). Michael had created a beautiful world full of intriguing characters, sprawling landscapes, and dramatic tension that turned out to be the perfect playground for an animated trailer.
Artistically, we drew a lot of inspiration from the splendor of Studio Ghibli films. The glorious dogfights of Porco Rosso and the terrifying bombers in Howl’s Moving Castle have left and indelible impression on our lives and while Ghibli has portrayed these and many flying machines in it’s catalogue, Michael viewed his flying machines as a little more grounded in historical reality (and physics?) than those that typically come from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki. Sure, a four-winged bomber never really existed, but the wings aren’t flapping like a heron either.
Our primary goal throughout the production was to share the world Michael had created, rather than any specific section of the book. We wanted to place the audience in the environments, and have them feel the tension that a soldier experiences as they prepare for what could be the final moments of their life. We wanted to show how peace and war can live disorientingly close to one another.
We hope you enjoy our trailer for Windrunners and that you’ll give Michael some money when he releases it for all the bibliophiles to enjoy.
Credits
Executive Producer
Samuel Cowden
Executive Creative Director
Zac Dixon
Creative Director
Michael Cribbs
Illustration
Michael Cribbs
Modeling/Texturing
Maxwell Anderson
Michael Cribbs
Animation
Michael Cribbs
Damian Grant
Taylor Blair
Stephen Van Wyk
Maxwell Anderson
Zac Dixon
Nayt Cochran
Compositing
Zac DIxon
Taylor Blair
Stephen Van Wyk
Music
Cody Fry
Sound Design
Defacto Sound