Celebrities are used to seeing their names in lights and their mugs on billboards, but not many have seen their likenesses in a graphic novel. Today, entering the ranks of a Sin City or Watchmen might hold as much Hollywood cred as being IM'ed by Scorsese, which could explain why the cast members of HBO's Entourage were keen on having themselves rendered in comic form in promos for the show's fifth season.

The :30 and :60 promos follow golden-boy actor Vince Chase and his crew Drama, Turtle and E as they jet-set around the world, taking in a night of boxing and gambling in Vegas, an afternoon of motorcycling through Rome and a yacht adventure in Dubai before heading back to LA at the behest of talent agent Ari Gold. The clips depict the trek through the pages of a graphic novel, brought to life by LA-based hybrid studio Engine Design, a newly-formed sister shop to VFX/animation company Engine Room.

The design studio provided sample designs to be approved by the assorted Entourage actors. Illustrators Iain Slack and Brian Murray were enlisted to draw the concept in marker. When the project was given the green light, Engine Design set about shooting live-action scenes with body doubles, which the illustration team used as references.

"We staged every shot with the body doubles for the layout," says Engine Design co-founder/director Dan Schmit. "Then I went in with a camera lens and designed shots the way I would if I shot an actual spot."

The in-house research team worked around the clock poring over Entourage episodes, stills and behind-the-scenes footage.

"We were going through the show trying to find heads that matched the exact expressions that we needed for each individual character and scenario, which was challenging," explains editor Adam Simpson.

The team was able to get time with the cast to record the voiceovers.

"The talent had one or two thoughts they added that worked really well," says HBO writer/producer Adrian Henke. "The script underwent a few changes and the show creators had some revisions. When Engine Design went to record the VO it went very smoothly."

While a real Entourage graphic novel isn't necessarily in the cards, bringing the ensemble cast to 2D was a relatively painless process, and one that the network had wanted to explore for some time. "We thought about it for a couple years, and this [set of promos] lent itself to it," says HBO creative Chris Stifel. "People were amazed that we got it signed off because you're dealing with celebrities and not their actual likenesses, but something close, which is a sensitive issue for anyone - how they look."

Engine Design http://www.enginedesign.tv
HBO http://www.hbo.com