This one is a little quirky. Working with User Experience agency Devona and end client director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), I ventured into the world of alternate reality games (ARGs) and seriously dedicated fandoms. The website for Esmail's production company, Esmail Corp, is designed in the spirit of an ARG itself, and — here's the kicker — it goes "off air" and comes back "on air" at a set time every night and day, respectively.
To recreate the 1980's feeling of being kicked off a broadcast channel late at night — a distant but nostalgic memory for the award-winning director's primary fan base of 40-somethings — Devona and I created closing and opening videos to announce the transition to "off-air" and "on-air" states before the color bars show up and the "programming" ends. These videos echo the traditional sign-off and sign-on messages used by TV networks in the '80s, but with internet lingo in place of TV production vernacular.
Scripts are written to evoke a sense of manipulation and tie into brand tenets of anachronism, misdirection, control, and deception.