Title Sequence Professionals

To those who work in media production, it comes as no surprise that many aspects of a production may come from different production companies, especially things like the products' marketing videos and title sequences. Even now in our class we are making title sequences for some of our favorite shows and movies. One of the heavy hitters of the title sequence market in the industry today is the production company Imaginary Forces.

The creative heavy weights that work for Imaginary Forces have been responsible for some of the most iconic title sequences in the industry, perhaps most recognizably the sequences for the movie Se7en, and the AMC series Mad Men.

Imaginary Forces has also produced the title sequence for shows like Chuck, Boardwalk Empire, Person of Interest, the HBO series Band of Brothers and The Pacific, movies like Pacific Rim, 500 Days of Summer, and countless others. IF had also made trailers and promos many shows and movies, as well as a few video game series like Splinter Cell and God of War. To see all the really cool things that they have created, head on over to their website, http://www.imaginaryforces.com. For someone who aspires to make title sequences and trailers for the industry, these guys are an excellent source of inspiration.

God of War Title sequence

http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00176-God_Of_War_III



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXjS0pjPscw
(for some reason blogger won't let me embed this)


So my post from last week got me interested in looking at video game title sequences (the few that there are) and how they differ in structure from more traditional film title sequences. They deal with an obvious structural problem, games are expected to be interactive, and title sequences draw upon film in that they are clearly not. So, last week I talked about how the title sequence in The Last Of Us had other utility in that it was useful for the story. This week I want to talk about the title sequence from "God of War 3", published by sony. Again, this is one of the few video games that has a title sequence in the first place, but the title sequence here is useful for another reason, it artfully fills in the "previously on" sequence. Almost every tv show will include a "Previously on" segment including information that the viewer will need to understand the story. So is the case with video games, this type of information fill is fairly common, especially when the gaps between sequential games can be years, programmers find it useful to fill in the player with backstory if they didn't play the earlier games, or remind previous players what happened.

So first I want to talk about this title sequence specifically for its art style, because it is so incredibly striking. It looks like it is a painting from a greek pot or sculpture, which fits in with the mythology of the game. The background texture is incredibly detailed and cool, and the characters are appear as mostly psedo 2d and 3d cutouts on a 2d background, with some drop shadow to give dimension. Also, the use of lighting is incredible, especially at the beginning, to emulate a forge. Some interesting particle effects are used as well to transition between events.

One thing that I want to focus on however is the fact that this title sequence serves another purpose. The things that are animated are events that happened in previous games. It fills in the gaps that the player may or may not have, artfully, avoiding the simple "previously on" sequence that every media viewer in the world is tired of. I find it really cool in both the cases of The Last of Us and with God of War that the game makers decide to use a title sequence to make their game more "cinematic", as many games try to be, but also work to give this sequence extra utility. This title sequence passively fills in the viewer on the backstory of the world, without getting so much in the way, and still being entertaining and interesting to watch

Karin Fong is Awesome

Karin Fong, one of the founders of Imaginary Forces, is recognized for her work with film, television, ads, and even video games.
Fong began her career with a job on the production team for The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) under the command of Kyle Cooper. Cooper then took Fong along and created Imaginary Forces where they both remain working.
One of Fong's first independent projects was Dead Man on Campus(1998).

This title sequence shows similar attributes to previous work with Cooper, for she used 2D animation and quick cutting motions. The movement is comparable to the Sure Target tool we learned in class on Thursday.
Fong since has done amazing work on title sequences such as television series Boardwalk Empire (2010) and films Rubicon. 

 

Fong made title sequences for movies like Cat in the Hat, 102 Dalmatians, Charlotte Webb, The Pink Panther 2, and Ray. He as also done work on Ads for Herman Miller, Target, Honda, and God of War. 

Click here to see Fong's Demo Reel

"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.

158 Movie Trailer End Title Animations

This is a compilation by Nawaz Alamgir from his YouTube nawaz1983uk's Channel

The video features six trailers that Nawaz designed or worked on. The Kings Speech, Black Swan, Jackboots, Horrid Henry, Never Let Me Go and Monsters.

The participating design houses are listed as tags below.

Title Sequence Project

When searching for my next title sequence I found this very interesting video and explanation...

A History Of The Title Sequence from jurjen versteeg on Vimeo.

And here is the explanation...

"Designed as a possible title sequence for a fictitious documentary, this film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names of title designers who had a revolutionary impact on the history and evolution of the title sequence. The names of the title designers all refer to specific characteristics of the revolutionary titles that they designed.
This film refers to elements such as the cut and shifted characters of Saul Bass' Psycho title, the colored circles of Maurice Binder's design for Dr. No and the contemporary designs of Kyle Cooper and Danny Yount.

This title sequence refers to the following designers and their titles:
Georges Méliès - Un Voyage Dans La Lune, Saul Bass - Psycho, Maurice Binder - Dr. No, Stephen Frankfurt - To Kill A Mockingbird, Pablo Ferro - Dr. Strangelove, Richard Greenberg - Alien, Kyle Cooper - Seven, Danny Yount - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang / Sherlock Holmes" - Jurjen Versteeg



For the next project, I was thinking about creating a "Going the Distance" title sequence. I love the movie and I love the title sequence. It will be difficult to make it my own because I love how the original one was made. It is also a bit intimidating because of all the layers and motion. I will have to channel Georges Melies and Saul Bass for their creativity! The company who created this title sequence is Imaginary Forces. They have created many mainstream title sequences and I am definitely going to look into more of their work. They have a great website!

Kyle Cooper

This week many of us blogged about animated title sequences, and as I was going to do the same I stumbled across something different. While looking into different animated title sequences, I found the name Kyle Cooper. Kyle Cooper has directed over 150 film title sequences and has been credited with "revitalizing the main-title sequence as an art form". Cooper earned an M.F.A. in graphic design from the Yale School of Art, where he studied independently with Paul Rand. In class and in some other posts we have already discussed what a huge influence Paul Rand has had in the animation world, so to see that Kyle Cooper has independently studied with him can really say something about Cooper's credibility and background.

Next to directing over 150 title sequences, Cooper founded two internationally known film design companies, Imaginary Forces and Prologue Films. Imaginary Forces is a creative studio and production company that creates and develops content for commercial advertising, digital and interactive platforms, feature films and film marketing, television, architectural spaces, and global brands. The following is a short reel of the many things Imaginary Forces has done.

Imaginary Forces Reel (feb 2007) by mactiste

One of Kyle Cooper's most famous title sequences was for the movie Seven.

After seeing Ally's post about the opening of Entourage I did a search of the best title sequences that have been used on television. In a list titled "26 Awe-Inspiring Television Show Opens and Title Sequences" one of the opening credits that caught my eye was that of the HBO miniseries 'The Pacific.' I only watched a few episodes but I remember really loving the opening and the way it combines charcoal drawn images with moving images.




The company behind this Emmy nominated title sequence was Imaginary Forces. In order to create this opener the company utilized the history of battlefield sketchers as inspiration, and hand drew the likeness of the actors in the film. This company also designed and animated the maps seen within the miniseries. This company is also behind the title sequences for Mad Men and Chuck.