ROBOCOP

yU+co was approached to define the look of the HUD/GUI graphics for RoboCop as well as the film’s robots ED209 and EM208. What brought us to the filmmaker’s attention is our talent for storytelling through design and motion graphics. It was very important to the film’s director, José Padilha, to utilize the film’s graphics to enhance the storytelling.

RoboCop’s graphics were an exciting challenge, as his HUD is not limited to analyzing his immediate environment, or to accentuating onscreen action. The 21st century RoboCop benefits from technological advances that the 1980’s RoboCop did not have. His instantaneous access to police records, public records, live and archived CCTV files turns him into a Sherlock Holmes of the future.

In the film, RoboCop not only uses his technology to track criminals; as a man turned machine, he uses his advanced programming to scan through CCTV footage, monitor his wife and son, analyze their emotions, and uses the data to repair their relationship. Ironically, the robot’s technology becomes a tool for accessing the emotional core of the man. The graphics we created become essential to engaging the audience emotionally in the story. Our company’s skills in design and storytelling worked hand-in-hand to make RoboCop’s HUD essential not only to onscreen thrills, but also to the human aspect that audiences best relate to.