Result
90% reduced product explanation time
Challenge
Rockwell Collins's ACES5 Ejector Seat saves military pilot's lives in the second they need it most, administering over 1000 processes literally in the blink of an eye to propel a fighter to safety in event of their vehicle being compromised.
Attempting to explain & depict this process to potential buyers would traditionally require an in-person, 1 hour presentation from one of Rockwell Collins's senior engineers, which was lengthy, restrictive and costly.
Mission
Explain and depict the processes that occur in the ACES5 to make it the safest Ejector Seat system on the market in a digestible, shortform digital format.
Solution
Our core concept was formed from a simple premise; it takes 25+ years of engineering excellence, condensed into a single second, to save a fighter pilot's life. We would show that second play out in slow motion, pausing at the key components around the seat during egress, highlighting their function in the chain.
Working with the Rockwell Engineering team, we outlined each of the 1000+ plus processes, grouping them down into 'steps' of processes that would allow us to tell an accurate and understandable process.
Alongside this, we worked to build a workable digital double of the seat from engineers CAD data, generating 'rigs' of the seats key movements that mirrored the real-world actions and components of the seat.
We also worked to develop a look and feel that would allow us to see the seat at all times, as well as highlighting our key elements for each step.
From here we storyboarded & scripted out our steps, working closely with engineering to ensure that the correct parts for each step were the 'hero' of each shot.
Once these steps and script were agreed, we moved to production, animating the piece as well as generating elements such as the fire simulations & motion graphics.
I led this project from initial briefing to final delivery, developing the script and storyboard alongside the Rockwell team.