Cedar Fair Ride Warriors

created for Lair

art direction | design

I had a blast working with Lair director Thor Raxlen and editor Jason Yantz on this powerful energetic spot showcasing the roller coasters of Carowinds. Shot and cut in the style of a music video, the spot is all about the dancing Ride Warriors generating and transferring the dynamic energy of the roller coasters back and forth through the narrative of a hip syncopated dance sequence. Strong relationships of composition and movement link the Warriors and the coasters. As the dancers strike their moves, rides organically spring from their gestures, building to a crescendo until the last coaster is formed.

We framed the shots to create dramatic compositions and show off how fast and powerful the rides actually are. Thor used a Phantom “bullet time” camera in order to control the timing of the footage and have the flexibility of creating “freeze” times to accentuate certain moments.I designed the backgrounds and worked closely with Thor and Jason to create the dynamic choreography between the Ride Warriors (kids) dance moves and the sinous serpentine path of the thundering roller coasters.An amazing group of talented people came together to make this happen. The complete list can be found here.