Satoshi’s name on an astronaut’s collar wasn’t the only Easter egg in Fortune Favours the Brave, Crypto.com’s first-ever brand campaign film. Five in total were hidden, and one took viewers straight to Mars. Here is the story and the artists behind these exclusive NFTs you may have heard about.
An Exclusive NFT Drop for Legends
The QR code was hidden in a single frame at approximately 46 seconds. Matt Damon is the star of the film, but a lucky few had their eyes on the prize. See the film here and the making-of here. The lucky few who found and scanned the QR code were taken to a hidden website where they could submit their email address to claim their reward – an NFT designed for #FFTB. The series contains five unique artworks, each with a fixed number of editions. The earlier someone found the secret and claimed the NFT, the rarer the collectible will be.
Let’s take a closer look at the NFTs.
Marscapes – The Story Behind the NFT series
The collection of five NFTs is inspired by the majestic sights on Mars – adorned by the Crypto.com Lion Icon, floating and rotating slowly in the centre.
Each depicts a real location on the Red Planet. ‘The NFTs capture a moment in time on Mars’, says Marek Okon, Creative Director of Crypto.com. ‘They are moving Mars from the SciFi realm closer to reality, and show the Red Planet in all its diversity and raw richness.’ Each of the NFTs is a looking glass into the surprisingly diverse landscapes on the planet, based on satellite and rover imagery from NASA’s Mars missions.
‘Colonising Mars and its exploration has fascinated humankind for aeons’, adds Steven Kalifowitz, Chief Marketing Officer of Crypto.com.
‘It is a mission with so many parallels to the one of the crypto community: pushing the limits of what we can achieve as a society.’
Steve Kalifowitz, Crypto.com Chief of Marketing
While most can only dream of going to Mars, the QR code took those who discovered it right there. It virtually transports collectors onto a new planet to claim a piece of it in the form of an NFT, just like an explorer would stake their claim on new terrain. ‘The film pays homage to those who started the crypto revolution and is an invitation to those who want to join us. ’
HiDef Art and Atmospheric Sound: A Revolutionary NFT Art Style
The collection was created by Impossible Brief, well-known in the music space for their work with chart-topping artists including The Chainsmokers and Coldplay, and within the NFT world for their recent collaborations with the Tupac Shakur estate, Lionel Messi, and Patrick Mahomes.
HiDef, crisp, 3D renders of landscapes create a level of detail that reveals every grain of Martian sand. ‘While the NFTs show a single point of view, we created a full 360-degree scope of each landscape. This allowed us to determine how light and shade would play out on mountain ranges, or how the wind would blow dust across the terrain realistically’, explains Chris Levett, Co-Founder of Impossible Brief.
Another dimension was added to the artwork by accompanying it with atmospheric music. ‘We were pioneers on adding sound to NFTs’, adds James Zwadlo, Co-Founder of Impossible Brief. ‘For the Martian series, we took inspiration from cinematic composers like Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, matching it to the barren but grand atmosphere of the planet.’ The deep, yet subtle soundscapes reflect the aura of each environment, fusing audio and visuals to a soothing experience on a seamlessly looped NFT.
Looping NFTs is a requirement for us to give collectors the best experience. It was a technical challenge as some of them have thousands of small dust particles swirling around that must be perfectly matched.
James Zwaldlo, Impossible Brief
The art is based on real Martian imagery and inspired by the cinematography of blockbusters ranging from–of course–the Martian to Dune and even Lord of the Rings. Zwadlo explains: ‘The scale of these landscapes is beyond terrestrial dimensions, so we looked to Lord of the Rings for reference on how to reproduce a terrain of such vast scale accurately.’
Here is the complete drop:
Gale Crater
Impact Site
Ancient Gale Crater was one of the first documented sites on Mars. Created by a meteor, the explosion scattered rocks and soil that filled the Gale Crater after the impact. Aeolis Mound at its centre is likely the survivor of the relentless Martian winds that blasted the sentiment away and carved out the mountain rising 5.5km above the ground.
Tier 5
20,000 editions
Valles Marineris
Canyon System
The largest canyon system on the Red Planet, Valles Marineris dwarfs any canyon humans have ever set foot in. The chasm spans 4000km, a third of the planet, at a depth of 7km, almost four times that of the Grand Canyon. Watch closely and you can see parts of the cliff breaking away.
Tier 4
10,000 editions
Promethei Planum
Southern Pole Ice Caps
Promethei Planum is the harsh south polar region blanketed by a sheet of ice over 3,500 metres thick. Temperatures fall to -140C, while icy storms blow over the vast expanse, making it a truly hostile environment.
Tier 3
1,000 editions
Hellas Basin
Ghost Dunes
One of the largest impact craters in our solar system, its icy-blue hues defy our image of the Red Planet. No rover has made it here, only satellite images tell Hellas Basin’s story. Ghost dunes fill the eerie landscape. They are footprints of long-gone sand dunes that were engulfed by liquid, then left a hollow mould as wind scattered the sand. Nothing like this exists on earth.
Tier 2
100 editions
Iani Chaos
Chaotic Terrain
The chaotic maze of rugged cliffs and mesas in Iani Chaos stretches further than the human eye can see. The range is dominated by large-scale massifs that have been moved by the elements and heavily eroded into chaotic orientation. Dust devils swirl up sediment containing a mineral unknown to earth that likely gives the range its deep charcoal tint.
Tier 1
10 editions
It’s Just the Beginning
‘Fortune Favours the Brave’ is more than a campaign, it is a mindset, it’s how we live. These NFTs, and the journey to find them are just one of the many ways we are involving our community in our story, which has just begun to unfold. There is more yet to come,’ concludes Kalifowitz. Be sure to follow us, get involved, and look out for the next chapter.
View the whole collection on Crypto.com NFT.
