Creative agency R/GA Shanghai teamed up with production company Final Frontier and animation studio Le Cube to create The Road to HBL, a stylized digital “choose your own adventure” for Nike China’s High School Basketball League (HBL). With over 700 storylines to explore, users get first-hand experience of the rigorous training regime, team bonding, pep talks and match excitement from the POV of a young HBL player. Fans can create their own personalized basketball diary and team poster to share on social media.
创意机构R/GA上海携手制作公司Final Frontier和动画工作室Le Cube联手打造《The Road to HBL》广告，广告风格独特，“选择自己的冒险”，参加耐克高中联赛(简称“耐高”)。观众从一个耐高篮球运动员的视角，探索700多个故事情节，就如同亲自参加耐高严格的训练、团队建设、加油打气，享受比赛的喜悦一样。球迷可以打造专属自己的个性化篮球日记和团队海报，分享在社交媒体上。
Minimalist percussion and a graphic-novel aesthetic define this director’s cut of a favorite storyline in The Road to HBL | 极简主义的画面跳动和新颖的图片美学，演绎导演最喜欢的《The Road to HBL》故事情节剪辑
To immerse players in an authentic HBL experience, R/GA Shanghai worked closely with over 100 high school players, coaches and fans to identify the most relatable moments in the sport. From this ground work, the team rendered pivotal moments, team dynamics, key phrases and game technique to craft in collaboration with production company Final Frontier and directed by Le Cube.
为了让篮球运动员有一种纯粹的耐高体验，R/GA上海跟100多个高中篮球运动员、教练和球迷亲密接触，找到最相关的画面。在此基础上，团队渲染出了最重要的时刻，展现团队活力、核心口号和篮球技巧，该片由制作公司Final Frontier联合打造，由Le Cube执导。
The game gives players an HBL athlete’s POV | 游戏带给玩家耐高运动员的视角
Having officially opened in China earlier this year, Final Frontier and Le Cube first dipped a toe in the market in 2017. After two large and successful projects, including The Road to HBL, Final Frontier is now the first international production company on the ground in China representing 15 animation studios and directors.
Final Frontier中国今年正式成立，但其实在2017年，Final Frontier和Le Cube就已经开始探索中国市场。完成了包括《The Road to HBL》在内的两个成功的大项目后，Final Frontier工作室现在是中国首个整编了15个动画工作室和导演的国际制作公司。
On the graphic-novel visual style, Final Frontier executive producer Gus Karam commented, “The animation was designed for a small screen experience and a [first-person] POV… it was essential to keep the art simple and direct.”
公司监制Gus Karam在描述图像视觉风格时表示，“动画原本就是为了让观众体验小屏幕，体验主观视角……重要的是要保持艺术风格简单明了。”
A trichromatic color scheme lends a sharp sense of drama to the game | 三种颜色给游戏带来强烈的戏剧感
While headquartered out of Shanghai, the R/GA team shared the load with its Singapore and Sao Paulo teams, giving them the ability to literally work around the clock. The project was completed in less than seven weeks, an impressive feat as explained by Karam. “To incorporate all the possible experiences, 210 seconds of high-end 2D cel animation comprised of 39 scenes were produced that together express all the energy, enthusiasm, fearlessness and excitement that an HBL athlete can feel.”
R/GA的总部并不在上海，团队在做这个项目时跟新加坡和圣保罗团队携手努力，上海团队因此也练就了一种连轴转的工作能力。项目不到七周就完成了，Karam觉得这是非常了不起的成就，他说，“要把所有可能的体验都融入其中，210秒的高端2D动画由39个画面构成，表达了能量、热情、无所畏惧、激动人心的耐高篮球运动员的体验。”
“We went all the way to make the moments, locations and characters feel authentic and
familiar to what high school ballers experience in real life,” said Terence Leong, Executive Creative Director, R/GA Shanghai. “You’re only going to be a high school basketball player once, so we wanted to make sure we captured it right.”
“我们非常努力，打造了不同的时刻、地点和人物，有一种真实感，就像是真实的高中篮球运动员的场景一样，” R/GA上海执行创意总监Terence Leong如是说。“一生只有一次耐高，我们想确保捕捉到适合的画面。”
Character design doubles as a way to creatively integrate the client Nike’s retail products | 人物设计双重作用，很有创意地融入耐克产品
HBL is one of Nike China’s biggest sponsorship investments. A comparatively new basketball platform in China, HBL inspires young basketball players and provides high-level competition that is not widely available across the country. Now the The Road to HBL, young players across the country can experience the excitement of the league and be inspired to take part.
耐高是耐克在中国赞助的最大规模联赛之一。也是中国相对比较新的篮球比赛，激励着年轻的篮球运动员，提供了一个高端比赛平台，而中国并不是每个地方都有这么高端的比赛。现在，《The Road to HBL》让全国各地的年轻篮球运动员都可以体验联赛带来的兴奋之情，也备受鼓舞，参加比赛。
Credits 制片团队
Client | 客户 : Nike
Agency | 广告机构 : R/GA Shanghai
Executive Creative Director | 执行创意总监 : Terence Leong
Senior Art Director | 高级艺术指导 : Kaori Lo
Copywriter | 文案 : Jam Lee
Experience Design Director | 体验设计总监: Vani Oza
Visual Designer | 视觉设计师 : Martha Ma
Producer | 制片人 : Kris Wang
Production Co. | 制片公司: Final Frontier
Executive Producer | 监制 : Gustavo Karam
Animation Studio | 动画工作室 : Le Cube
Director | 导演 : Juan Ma Freire and Mariano Fernandez Russo
Executive Creative Director | 执行创意总监 : Ralph Karam
Producer | 制片人 : Fernanda Soma and Larissa Miranda.
Animation Director | 动画指导 : Daniel Duche
Art Director | 艺术指导 : Santiago Oddis
Music Prod. Co. | 音乐制作公司 : Cachorro Loco
Music Composer | 作曲家 : Facundo Capece
Sound Design | 音效设计 : Lola Richter
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