Everything is intentionally a little out of focus in 2C 2.0’s launch spots for the fourth-season return of HLN’s true-crime series, Very Scary People.

This season tells the stories of such criminals as Gambino crime family boss John Gotti and the underling who ultimately ratted him out – Sammy “the Bull” Gravano; Back to School Killer Jesse Matthews Jr.; Hillside Stranglers (and cousins) Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr.; the Ken and Barbie Killers, also known as married couple Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka; and Glen Edwards Rogers, who was called the Cross Country Killer. Each of this season’s six episodes, hosted by Donnie Wahlberg, looks into the history, psychology and motives of these people and studies how they were eventually caught.

Launch Plus Episodic Spots

“We love when we get the call from our friends at CNN because we know it’s going to be a challenging and fun project,” said Cheryl King, 2C 2.0 creative director, in a statement. “And for us, true crime is really one of our creative niches and passions. We’ve created quite a few spots for this series, including recent podcast spots, so we are always excited to explore new ways to approach the look and style of the series.”

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“[W]e wanted to focus on the diverse set of killers from the season,” says CNN Senior Producer Nicole Giles. “Crafting lines that pointed to each of the subjects, we focused on the idea that viewers know their names, maybe their crimes, but how did they become who they were? Relying on amazing recreative footage shot by HLN and historical photos and videos, we sought to highlight the very real terror each of these killers created.”

Giles wrote the script that 2C 2.0 relied on to bring a psycho-thriller vibe to season four. The final concept – developed by King, designer Alberto Garcia and editor/sound designer Jesus Martinez – was inspired by vintage occult artwork and photography that the team called “wrapped and warped.” The treatment relies heavily on color-shifting, image warping and scratching.

“While exploring this design, we wanted a very specific scratch feel to the secondary text and couldn’t find a perfect fit so designer Alberto Garcia created his own,” said King.

Add a haunting vocal that tells the story of the moment the victim’s time is up, and the launch spots fulfilled the team’s intention of creating an eerie psycho killer feel.

“The most satisfying part of this job is when you see what’s in your head play out on the screen exactly how you and your team intended,” said King, “and even more so when you feel the excitement from the client. That is why we do this.”

Very Scary People airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HLN.

Credits:

Client: CNN

Senior Creative Director: Sean Houston

Senior Marketing Director: Lara Hurst

Senior Producer: Nicole Giles

Agency: 2C 2.0

President/Owner: Chris Sloan

VP of Operations/Executive Producer: Bob Cobb

Creative Director/Writer: Cheryl King, Samantha Storey

Lead Editor/Sound Design: Jesus Martinez

Episodic Editor: Darwin Phillips, John Michie, David Weiss

Lead Designer/Animator: Alberto Garcia

Animator: Aaron Magee

Audio: Cesar Haliwa, Andy Stermer

Tags: 2c 2.0 cnn hln hot spots very scary people


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