Creative Agency: BLITZ
Although there are some cool features like the piano game in the Music Room, the dart game in the Pub, and the play fetch with Scraps game in the Village Square, the site was built for the overall experience rather then the individual features. BLITZ has remained focused on the marriage of creative design and an overall marketing message. BLITZ’s goal is to provide an atmosphere that captures the spirit and look of the movie but also engages the uninitiated on an emotional level. If users have fun at the Corpse Bride website, they will be more inclined to buy a ticket to see the movie.
-- Gregg Apirian, CEO, BLITZ
The animation on the site is terrific and the audio is positively gorgeous; in fact, seeing the designers’ strong capabilities left me wanting more at nearly every turn. Clever, well executed touches like scrolls unveiling and skulls tracking download progress made me wonder if there were cost or time tradeoffs that curtailed doing more. Much of the screen is pure black, and I expected, or at least wanted, more interactivity. An elaborate Pub scene has only one obviously clickable element, to the trailer -- which makes the double download wait seem extraneous. Some of the interactivity -- such as the prominent gold ring -- leads to dead ends. And the soundtrack is noticeably silent during lengthy download periods. Conversely, the several featured songs are clever and deserve the Music Room they’re given, but couldn’t they be accompanied by animation or interactivity? Watching static figures blink seems curiously flat. In summary, I found the site has many high points, but it would have benefited from being either more or less ambitious.
-- Priscilla Eshelman, manager, site representation, Tribal Fusion
Full disclosure: I didn't see this movie, so the navigation wasn't entirely intuitive for me. But the site is beautifully detailed, albeit dark, but I suspect that the movie was as well. People without well calibrated monitors might be missing out on some of the intricate design work in the trees and on the walls, though.
The "Corpse Bride" site is full of all the right features that we've come to expect from a movie website. IM icons, desktop wallpapers, plenty of info on the characters, trailers and songs from the soundtrack were all included, even if a little hard to find. One minor flaw, in my opinion, is that the "buy the soundtrack" link doesn't take you directly to an online store, but rather to the soundtrack's promo site, which does feature a link to an online retail partner.
I eventually found some of the "hidden" content of the site, which I enjoyed tremendously. Following the sheet music left on the piano allows a user to play the melody lines from some of the soundtrack. While I wasn't familiar with the songs, it isn't hard to hear the eerie, minor keys they were written in, and very easy to play with the mouse or keyboard. Quite a nice touch.
My only real complaint is that the content loads a bit slowly. You really need to commit some time to explore this site thoroughly, rather than simply flying through it. This isn't a real drawback for someone who wants to bury himself in the experience, but I was a little disappointed after watching 10 seconds of pre-loader, only to find the production notes. Just a minor let down after being rewarded with the piano just moments earlier, but nothing that other sites don't deal with as well.
Overall, this is a great site for fans of the movie, and Tim Burton fans in general. I might just have to rent the DVD.
-- Corey Kronengold, account executive, Soho Digital