Hellohikimori sets zombies on the loose online for The Walking Dead

GLOBAL – PARIS, FRANCE, MARCH 30, 2011 – French creative agency Hellohikimori has launched a website and online game in the run-up to the premiere of FOX’s new hit series, The Walking Dead for Orange Cinema Series.

The series enjoyed immediate success in the US, attracting an audience of 5.3 million in its first season.  The Walking Dead TV show is based on the comic book series written by New York Times bestselling author, Robert Kirkman. He serves as executive producer on the project, which is written, directed and produced by three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) and Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator, Aliens, The Incredible Hulk).

Hellohikimori has created a website which matches the high production values of this epic zombie nightmare adventure. All content is deliberately accessible via the homepage, making for an easy no-click-through experience. This enables the audience to fully immerse themselves in the gruesome, highly-charged atmosphere of the series, where usability, simple navigation and vertical composition allow for maximum grisly impact. The content of the website follows the intrigue of each upcoming episode, making it a real ‘fan-zone’ for the series and offering a constant link between what the audience sees on TV and online.

Centerstage of The Walking Dead website is the game, created in interactive 3D by Hellohikimori. At the heart of the action is police officer Rick Grimes who wakes from a coma in an abandoned hospital to find the world devastated by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Gamers must  avoid contamination from the zombies to survive.

David Ronhel, Founder and Creative Director of Hellohikimori, says: “For The Walking Dead, we’ve pushed the game to the maximum of what technology offers. It’s incredible in its detail, but more importantly, it’s frightening, strong, efficient, powerful and entertaining. We also wanted to switch the usual order of websites. For this project we focused on the editorial aspect, which is visible right from the homepage. The content is immediately available from the scroll zone.”

In a rare step for a TV series, the first two episodes of The Walking Dead will be aired on Orange’s Walking Dead website for free, for a 48 hour period.

CREDITS
Client:    Orange Cinéma Series, France      
Campaign: The Walking Dead      
Launch date: March 2011      
Territories: France         
Agency / Production Studio: (HKI) Hellohikimori™      
Creative Director: David Ronhel & Nathalie Melato      
Art Director: David Ronhel & Renaud Futterer      
Account team: Nathalie Melato, Pierre Bernuchon      
Agency Producer: Pierre Bernuchon, Sébastien Juzac      
Development team: Panagiotis Thomoglou, Antoine Lehurt, Sebastien Juzac      
Copywriter: Pierre Bernuchon      
Game design and development: (HKI) Hellohikimori™      
Lead Art Director: David Ronhel      
Lead 3D Artist: Renaud Futterer      
Graphic design: Matilda Dackevall      
Lead Developer:    Vincent Legrand      
Associate Flash Developer: Panagiotis Thomoglou                 
Audio Design: Philippe Gully