Art Director & UI Designer
HIT TV is a short film by LA film director Saman Kesh. A love letter to 80’s action thrillers, the short follows Hunter Thomas, a man who is searching for his wife after she’s been kidnapped by a mysterious organization only known as Hit TV. The organization highjacks broadcast channels to air a seedy and haunting call-to-action where people are identified for murder and priced accordingly.
Working closely with writer and director, Saman Kesh, Territory crafted screen graphics and logo animation for this hyperstylised thriller, in which iconic pop culture imagery projects themes of sex, violence, greed and power to create an enigmatic villain.
Stills
Personality of the show
Ryan Rafferty-Phelan, had considerable creative influence in the pre production stage. Initially the brief was to create graphics for a pirate TV show, but sensing an opportunity to create a really iconic mystery ‘character’, influenced by 80s pop art and couture fashion Ryan suggested only showing disembodied lips. In collaboration with Saman, Ryan designed the look and personality of the TV show. The result is a sexy dating game style show, in which a woman’s voice presents new targets as love interests, inviting players to win love points. The graphics were shot on-set on an old TV, for a true analogue feeling.
Graphic Language
We concepted out from the start, building a strong base of inspirations ranging from film posters to fashion. Using reference we build up the graphic language of the piece. The brief was to aim for something that embodied the 80's but didn't feel pastiche.
Logo Development
We spent awhile exploring the right feel for HIT TV, trying to find a logo that felt right for the era but not pastiche.
Further explorations in Cinema 4D.
Final Logo
The final logo design Saman settled upon was done by packaging designer Brent Ashe. I was then asked to develop the cracked tv/glowing neon treatment seen below and animate it for the end credits of the film.
Polaroid Shoot
Saman and Ryan discussed a section of the short film that would feature a classic 80's inspired Polaroid advert, which was the mode that assailants would use to provide evidence of their successful hit. Ryan had fun getting into character for the role and edited, animated and graded the advert which was then composited into the short. Below follows some shots of the advert and some production photos.
Territory Studio
Art Direction & Project Lead
Ryan Rafferty-Phelan
Additional Motion Design
Sam Keehan, Daniel Holland
Producers
Sam Hart, Evdoxia Sardi, Alice Ceserole
-
Film Production
Writer / Director
Saman Kesh
Producer
Stephane Elfassi
Music Composition
Makeup & Vanity Set