"Never say you know the last word about any human heart." - Henry James

Huge Designs' opening title sequence for the UK's Channel 4 television adaptation of William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart casts widening threads of light and shadow to frame an Everyman's journey through infinite sadness and celebrity.

Paul McDonnell at Huge Designs:

“We were initially briefed by the director Michael Samuels. They were looking for a title sequence that would encapsulate the journey of one man from birth to grave in 40 seconds but without being too literal. One thing we had to keep in mind was the fact that our character couldn't be recognised as any of the three actors who played Logan Mountstuart in different stages of his life. Hence having the stylized silhouette of a man seemed to be the perfect solution

The execution of the animation itself mainly took place on our studio rooftop. We filmed myself performing the various sequences. These were then rotoscoped and then stitched together. A few of the sequences described are his birth, rise to literary fame, traveling to the city, his time in the gallery, and finally his death. Finally the sequence went off to the composer Dan Jones who put the icing on the cake with his evocative music.”

Storyboards 1 (Click to Enlarge)

Storyboards 2 (Click to Enlarge)

Artwork stills (Click to Enlarge)

• UK
• 2010
• Color
• 1.78:1
• English
• Available in the UK on DVD or Blu-ray

Art Director: Hugo Moss
Design and Animation: Paul McDonnell
Animation: J.G. Wilson
Music: Dan Jones
Commissioned by: Carnival Films for Channel 4 (UK)

Huge Design