Mad Men

Project Info:

"Mad Men" is about the high-powered and glamorous world of advertising in the 1960's. We created the main titles and marketing campaign for this original AMC drama series created by Matthew Weiner, executive producer of the "Sopranos".

We won the 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Title Design for the "Mad Men" opening sequence. AMC commented "We love the graphic Imaginary Forces opener for Mad Men: a mini-story, setting up the larger story that follows. The final frame resolution of that open - the silhouette of the back of Don Draper's head - has become the iconic image of the show: bold, clean, confident, modern, and ultimately enigmatic".

Mad Men has received critical acclaim, particularly for its historical authenticity and visual style, and has won multiple awards, including nine Emmys and four Golden Globes. It is the first basic cable series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning it in 2008 and 2009.

Director: Mark Gardner and Steve Fuller

The edit of the instrumental "A Beautiful Mine" by RJD2.

Title Recreation: Breaking Bad

  I posted about the original Breaking Bad opening sequence but I recently saw a recreation of the title sequence. This particular sequence includes the actors and their names whereas in the original sequence, the show title and creator are shown in a few seconds. The title that "jamesmontalbano" created is a little over a minute and includes video clips from the show in a mosaic form using the periodic table of elements. I think that this title sequence is better than the original. It poses the question, why would Breaking Bad have such a simple title with no character names or actors? I believe that a show with a large following and such a complex story requires a simple title. The dedicated viewers know who is in the show and what more content rather than a filler title sequence going on for a few minutes every week. I think that a title sequence similar to this recreation could be used on the pilot episode of a show to introduce important characters. I would like to see a tutorial for this After Effects creation. This title sequence uses important scenes from various episodes to describe each character and although the mosaic effect shows small video clips, they all act to paint of picture of the character's past and reflects certain traits.

Breaking Bad Opening Sequence

   We spoke about the Breaking Bad intro and how many people posted about it on the blog last year but as a dedicated fan, I feel it is necessary to post about. The main title sequence is accompanied by a distinct guitar and bongo song that Breaking Bad fans can identify but the animation itself is extremely simplistic. For most shows, the intro develops over time and changes based on the season and what is going on at the time. For Breaking Bad, however, the title sequence has been the same through five seasons. I truly believe that in a few weeks, I will have the ability to recreate the Breaking Bad title sequence with no problems. For example, I could make the smoke in the background already and the periodic table of elements is layered over itself to create the ghost look. I think this is the first major project I want to do. What does this simplistic intro say about the show? Unlike other opening sequences, the Breaking Bad intro only says created by Vince Gilligan. There are no shots from past episodes, there's no cast listed, and it's only 18 seconds long. I think that the title sequence can take away from the show at points and since diehard Breaking Bad fans know who is in the show and want more story, the short title allows a longer period of time for the actual show. At same time, however, the sequence is memorable due to the accompanying sound and simplistic yet clever use of the periodic table. Also, the actors' names appear with elements placed in their name during the opening scene.

The Walking Dead - Intro

This week I began looking at different films / programs I could design an alternate intro sequence for.  Being a fan of the walking dead, I noticed when I was watching it this weekend that the effects here are not terribly complicated.  The second video is the intro sequence from the animated Adult Swim show, The Venture Bros.  This intro uses some of the techniques we discussed at the beginning of the semester (using textures, stamps, brushes, still photos, etc). Two very different shows, both with some interesting effects.

Walking Dead

As we all know, fall break came and went much too quickly. I know many people went home, but if you're like me and live too far away, you just stayed here. And if you stayed here, you know how boring it was. Well, I was bored out of my mind and decided to give the show "The Walking Dead" a try. Many of my friends rant and rave over it and I decided I would see for myself what the fuss was about. I must say, the premise of the show really sucks. I've never been one for zombies and all that jazz. But I do find the story lines and characters to be quite intriguing and enjoyable. But this isn't a critique. This clip is from season one when the main characters arrive at the CDC hoping to find a cure for whatever disease is turning the dead into zombies. The lone scientist at the CDC knows there's no hope and rigs the building to explode. I found the explosion to be pretty cool. You can tell that it is CG, but I like how the building collapses and how there are also subsequent explosions and how you can faintly see a shock wave at the 1:01 mark. This is something I would like to learn how to do in After Effects- explosion, building collapse, shock wave, everything. The clip has been edited by the person who uploaded to video to YouTube, so this isn't the actual scene that was shown on TV. Some stuff has been added. The explosion starts at the 46 second mark in the video. The one thing the uploader did that I agree with is adding a song by Evanescence. They're pretty darn good. Sorry, I digressed again...

"Cigarettes, Scotch, and Sex" A Look at the Title Sequence of Mad Men

So I thought long and hard into this and I came up with something I feel like the majority of people have asked themselves from time to time: how deep is the title sequence of Mad Men? Currently, I'm on the third season with only one or two more episodes until I progress to the fourth and every episode I watch furthers my interest in the story, setting, and style of the show. Every episode begins the same way, with a mostly silhouetted business man walking into his office before his world literally falls apart, all to the musical stylings of RJD2. The titles, created by production house Imaginary Forces, pay homage to graphic designer Saul Bass's skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and falling man poster from Vertigo (1958). Every time I start a new episode because it reminds me that although every visual aspect of the show speaks "classy" on a certain level, nothing is perfect and your world could come out from beneath you as easy as dropping your briefcase, as seen in the show. The intro continues by displaying the man falling from what looks like a skyscraper of advertisements with provocatively looking women, the all American family, and alcohol from the 60s, placing the viewer into the world right next to the characters of the show. I remember the first time watching the intro and thinking to myself, "Yes, I'm going to enjoy this show" solely because the intro's animation got me hook-line-and-sinker.

If you haven't seen it yet, Mad Men is a show on AMC that isn't currently airing new episode but can be watched between the hours of 6 am to about 8 or 9 am on Sundays and is also available online through Netflix and a number of streaming sites.