Two fine fire melt title reveals open Howard Hawks’/Christian Nyby’s “The Thing from Another World” and John Carpenter’s immutable and Hitchcockian “The Thing,” respectively. In speaking with Krystian Morgan, a 21-year-old from Wales we relearned a thing or two about work ethic, humility and the importance of fresh eyes. Morgan’s title sequence, based on Carpenter’s vision, was created when Morgan was in his final year in university where he studied motion graphics and compositing. His grave atmospherics veer into different territory, away from the effective simplicity of the originals with mutations rising to the fore, all the while echoing 90’s Romanek/Reznor and involuntary quivers of the Brothers Quay.

Special Optical Effects, Peter Kuran discusses the title effect from John Carpenter’s “The Thing: Terror Takes Shape”:

“When I did the effect for the title I used…a fish tank that was about four feet wide by two feet high. I put smoke in the fish tank and on the back of the tank I put the title that was drawn on an animation cel and behind that I had a piece of plastic garbage bag which I stretched over a frame and behind that I had a light pointing through the letters. When I photographed it, I put a flame from a match to the plastic. The plastic would open up and let the light through the letters. That is how the letters look like they form and burn on with the [light] rays. It was a simple process but we went through a lot of takes; one take only formed the letters “N.G.”

NOTE: On a film set, the mark of “N.G.” or “N.F.G.” is taped to any equipment that does not work. No good.

Art of the Title: Please discuss your inspiration for this piece on an immersive and influential level. What stirred your soul to go this dark with the material?

Krystian Morgan: When I saw the title sequence for Se7en for the first time, my mind really was opened to how perfect imperfections could be. Up to that point i was so used the the same after same ‘perfect’ white titles on the opening footage, that seeing this raw, and wrong looking type showing up on screen was just mesmerizing and more than that was that it had reason to be. I also remember at that time really being excited about the style of the opening and closing animation of the 2008 Onesize reel. I am inspired by the thought processes that goes into the work of others. The titles for Dexter for example. I’m a big fan of substance over style.

I tended to trade between dark projects and lighter projects in university. I relate with the darker material a lot more, that side of films; humanity, morality even. I’ve always been fascinated with the power that film and video can have over a person, that people can be taken to places. With that in mind I wanted people to be unsettled by this piece, to want to look away.

ATS: The beat in the action at the beginning is invasive and the text penetrates and issues forth. Tell us about how you went into animating the type, conceptually, from start to finish.

KM: For me the text is the representation of ‘The Thing’ itself. I wanted the text to encapsulate the essence of what the ‘The Thing’ is and what it does, in a subconscious way. We know that the creature is made up from all the different forms of life that it has come in contact with, so the text had to have that same mutt characteristic. It’s oddly shaped, it’s made up from different font styles and sizes, it latches on, it changes and morphs. It’s relentless, when it fades away into the background it finds a way back in a different form (the next name). I wanted it to feel organic, alive and unpredictable in movement.

ATS: It is interesting you did not attempt to match the look of the film but managed to get the feel of it.

KM: It’s always quite a touchy subject talking about updating something that is so recognizable and loved passionately by so many. John Carpenter’s remake was warranted and worked because he felt he had something to show that the original Howard Hawks film didn’t. But I found it strange that whilst he updated the monster and the film that the titles are almost identical to the original. I like both titles, but personally think the original Hawk’s titles are superior from a visual stand point and the Carpenter’s titles are better in the sound department.

Howard Hawk’s The Thing From Another World (Click to Watch QuickTime)

The prospect of getting a fish tank and filming the burning of the titles practically, was exciting, but I wanted to explore some different ideas, some of which meant taking certain liberties by means of a different perspective and not being destructive to the film by trying to either repeat or one-up it.

My concept was to both show the creature and not show the creature. I wanted ambiguous shots. The way I see my title sequence is a precursor to the film; what actually happened to the Norwegians? It was important that I used real footage as I wanted even the thought of such textures near you, on your skin to be excruciating.

ATS: The hand is a very effective cap to the sequence. Did budget constraints fuel creativity?

KM: I had pretty much zero budget on this sequence, I think I ended up spending less than 20 GBP’s on the entire video. I used a combination of a borrowed HDV camera with my trusty mini dv and point and click camera to capture all the footage, and worked almost only in After Effects.

I felt the end needed some reality something that a viewer could identify which would transfer us from the sequence to the film itself. It was suggested to me to watch Jacob’s Ladder its use of suggestion has the viewer questioning if what we saw actually happened. The idea being that the hand is instantly recognizable as human, but the movement suggests otherwise. This is one of the areas of the sequence that I would have liked to have taken further, I believe I could have found something more there.

ATS: You mentioned you believe your stills are stronger than the video itself. If you step through a sequence shouldn’t every frame seduce the eye?

KM: When I said that I think I was far to close to the video, it was my life for a while and the way it turned out wasn’t exactly as I pictured it beforehand. I’m now looking at it for what it is and not what it was set out to be. I don’t think every frame of a sequence needs to seduce the eye, I think that could be a limiting idea. Like films the in-between shots can be used to make the ‘key’ frames or key plot points more resonant and I think if you skip frame by frame through most films or title sequences you will pick out high points from the low points. Of course this is not always the case. The titles for ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ is so saturated with imagery and design that any frame is as good as the last.

When I made the title sequence I was still very much trying to find myself, I still am, but it’s a lot clearer now. I experimented with a different workflow and structure…[it] is hard to [address what] didn’t work because to this point it’s a video that’s taken me farther than most of my others and I’ve had a lot of great feedback; something I was initially scared of, I was worried I’d be savaged by the film’s fans for trying to tamper with something that’s important to them, but this has not been the case. But I have to say I probably wont use the same approach again.

I haven’t yet been able to fully translate what is in my head but I’m still learning everyday and trying to improve, more so now than ever since leaving university and now doing it every day as an occupation.

ATS: Why did you make this? What were the requirements (self-imposed and instructed)?

KM: It was my third and final year at university and I was feeling a bit disappointed in myself that I hadn’t worked nearly as hard as I could have in prior projects. This particular project was open so I got to decide what I wanted to do. I really enjoyed doing a title sequence in year one and title sequences are definitely the thing I like most about motion graphics and design in general. I knew I wanted to go dark, and I wanted something “virusy.” My tutor Chris and I were discussing possible ideas, namely thinking of a Cronenberg type of movie. Later on I posted on Twitter asking for suggestions for movies based on my ideas for the video and someone [Rupert] suggested, “The Thing.” He told me that he had stayed with Dean Cundey, the Director of Photography of “The Thing” and got a chance to see a lot of the props from the movie. So the next day I told Chris about the prospect of doing “The Thing” and he thought it was a perfect choice. It worried me a little as the original title sequence was shown to us in year one in a compilation of brilliant examples of title sequences, he also told me that he expected a lot from me on this project as he too was a fan of the film and wanted me to do it justice.

John Carpenter’s The Thing opening titles (Click to Watch QuickTime)

I’m ashamed to say that up to that point I had not seen the film, so I bought a double dvd of both the Hawks’ and the Carpenter’s versions and watched in awe. The John Carpenter film seemed like home, like I’ve seen it a hundred times before, like “Jaws” or “The Shawshank Redemption.” Once I came up with the concept of where I wanted to take the title sequence I couldn’t think of anything else.

ATS: How do you view the idea of collaboration after going through this process?

KM: Now, great!

I’ve always been a solitary designer, I come from a small village in Wales and have trouble relating with a lot of people as my interests are so different to what is considered normal there, so I’ve always felt by myself in that sense and even when there were more like-minded people in university I always took my work home and brought it in when it was due. “The Thing” to me is a movie primarily about isolation, you could watch it with the mindset that there is no creature and everyone’s suspicions [fueled] the killing and it would still work.

Up to that point “The Thing” sequence is ironically the most collaboration I had done on a project, in the sense that I listened to someone else’s suggestion and feedback. When I’m solely working on a video, I have a tendency to get tunnel vision so an outsiders perspective is really valuable.

Going from university to working in the creative industry has been a shock; I’ve been able to progress and progress because of collaborative [environments]. If I start being unhappy with an aspect of work or life, I’ll change and am not afraid to be ambitious in the future and follow the dreams I had as a kid. Teamwork is a great thing, but working alone can have benefits too, if you’ve ever heard the saying, “A camel is a horse designed by society,” that can sometimes be the case. I think I’m a better decision maker and idea generator than a designer at the moment, but I’m having fun working on the latter…I’m currently developing a feature film which I’m going to produce over the next four years.

The Thing (1982)
Visual Effects Designed by: Visual Concept Engineering, Peter Kuran
Miniature Supervisor: Susan K. Turner
Animators: Katherine Kean, Keith Tucker
Opticals: RGB Optical, James Hagedorn, George Lockwood

USA | 1982 | Color | 2.20:1 | English/Norwegian

The Thing From Another World (1951)

USA | 1951 | Black and White | 1.37:1 | English

Model kits and kilts.

ISO Design’s opening title sequence to “A History of Scotland” offers a gathering sense of self and of a scaled Scotland. Using a tilt-shift effect that simulates miniature scale model photography where a shallow depth of field is created by blurring areas of the composition either optically or in post, the title technique nicely captures the spirit of the pioneering Picts.

Art of the Title: Tell us a little bit about ISO Design.

Damien Smith: 10 years young Glasgow-based digital design studio. Started out concentrating on personal motion graphics projects for commissioners like OneDotZero and moved into TV in the late 90’s working with the BBC, MTV and Channel 4 in the UK.

We still do a lot of broadcast graphics and have expanded the studio to work on large scale interactive installations for clients like Mercedes Benz and multiplatform projects like the new Sony XMB and the BBC iPlayer.

ATS: How did you become involved with the project?

DS: We’ve worked closely with the BBC team responsible for History of Scotland over many years. This was the largest production ever undertaken by the BBC in this country and we worked closely on early concepts for reconstructions, in programme graphics and the titles.

ATS: Take us through the design process, how did you develop the concept for the piece?

DS: The design brief was simple – ” illustrate over 1000 years of Scottish history in a contemporary style”.

After early discussions with the producer and director, we kept coming back to one core idea . . Scotland’s history and it’s people is defined by it’s landscape; from the natural barrier the Highlands form to the rugged west coast and islands down through the central lowlands, this unique land form defined our history.

As with most projects three or four ideas were kicked around with the strongest developed into a storyboard. We all liked the idea of historical dates and type tagged or pinned into the landscape then blowing away in the wind, referencing the elemental nature of Scotland and the passing of time. We then gathered specially shot helicopter footage and added shallow focal planes into shot, that helped to build in a sense of scale and also caused attention to focus in on the type elements.

ATS: Describe the development process of the sequence.

DS: After the BBC approved the treatment we created an animatic showing text blowing away over a moving aerial shot with a shift tilt effect on the background footage. This very quickly showed we could not manually key frame the type elements, as there were far to many characters and this also lacked a random natural feel. We then started scripting in After Effects to animate the type from a resting position to a new position off screen. We also split type blocks into words or letters and the scripts randomised the position and rotation parameters as the type as it left screen. The whole thing gave much more of a natural organic feel. Travelling mattes for were then created for all the helicopter shots and the shift tilt effects produced using Mocha, and tracking moving shots in SynthEyes.

ATS: What was the most difficult aspect of this piece?

DS: Trying to squeeze it out of a BBC budget!

ATS: What recent work has taken you by surprise?

DS: The Radiohead graduation film of Glasgow School of Art student James Houston – Big Ideas (don’t get any). Pleased to say James regularly works out of our studio as a freelance director!

ATS: So what’s next for you?

DS: We have recently launched a creative social media platform in partnership with Channel 4, we are completing the titles for Peter Mullans new film NEDS and we are consulting on interactive installations for a new Zaha Hadid Museum.

Watery cobblestone logos and longitudinal linotype layer, lace and lash Prologue Films’ opening and end credit work for Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes.”

The sequence creative director Danny Yount, a self-taught Emmy-winning designer/director produced main titles for Six Feet Under and The Grid while at Digital Kitchen. He currently resides at Prologue Films and has created titles for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man and RockNRolla.

Art of the Title: Take us through your artistic process – how do you begin a project like Sherlock Holmes? What was your approach to the logos and the beginning and end titles?

Danny Yount: I got a call from director Guy Ritchie while he was in the middle stages of principal photography. He liked what we made for RockNRolla and asked us to consider something good for Sherlock Holmes. We were sent a script and got very excited about it after realizing the more edgy and fun interpretation of the classic character of Holmes. So Ilya Abulhanov and myself made a couple of ideas (examples 1a & 1b).

Example 1a: Early concept from Danny Yount (Click to Enlarge)

Example 1b: Early concept from IIya Abulhanov (Click to Enlarge)

I was invited to fly out to present them at one of the sets in London and see some of the film, so I had a very strong sense after that of where they wanted to go visually. The brief I was given was to do a live action shoot that involved a lot of newspaper headlines from the late 1800’s, which would give a little history to the early beginnings of Holmes and Watson and lead into the first scene of the film following the last headline on top of a stack of newspapers laid at the doorstep. We also wanted to show part of the printing process of that time period using the linotype machine and wood block type headline compositions.

After going back and forth a bit we concluded that it be a macro shoot that was very graphic, so we rented some time at a printing museum and set up several still shoots to get all the material we needed for storyboards (example 2a, 2b & 2c). I also shot some test footage with the Canon 5D to do a style test (example 3a & 3b). They liked the presentation and told us they would get back to us.

Example 2a: Printing press concepts (Click to Enlarge)

Example 2b: Printing press concepts (Click to Enlarge)

Example 2c: Printing press concepts (Click to Enlarge)

Several months went by and the film had taken shape more so they decided to lose the headlines sequence. So they went from wanting a full main title to having a short main title and an end credit sequence. They also wanted the end credits to be an anthem to the film – using highlights from the movie. Designers Henry Hobson, Simon Clowes and Lisa Bolan teamed up and made the storyboards (example 4). I decided to go into a different direction with mine (example 5). In retrospect I think they were a little dark though (ha).

Once they approved of the look we had about 4 weeks from start to finish, and we were also given a special effect sequence. It was a lot of work, even for a company our size. But we have a great group of talented and dedicated people who did what it took to get it done.

Example 3a: Printing press motion test (Click to Watch Quicktime)

Example 3b: Printing press motion test (Click to Watch Quicktime)

ATS: How large was the production team, and how closely do you work with them?

DY: We broke up into a 3 separate teams – with a total of about 14 people working around the clock. The end credit sequence required the most people by far, as there was so much detail in the illustration and transition work. The illustration took a long time to make. I’m not sure if Jorge slept very much. The main title and Hallucination VFX team was myself and Brett. The opening logos Jose and Todd.

Example 4: End credit storyboard – Hobson, Clowes and Bolan (Click to Enlarge)

I work very closely with everyone and I am always part of the process. I owe that to the client and I especially owe that to the younger designers who are building their own body of work and careers. I also learn a lot from them – they always bring in new ways of doing things. And they learn from me as I help them to avoid the same mistakes I made when I was their age.

Example 5: End credit storyboard by Danny Yount (Click to Enlarge)

ATS: In the opening logos, is there any part of the cobblestones that are real?

DY: Nope – just well crafted 3D. Jose and Todd are masters. The client originally wanted the logos formed out of pools of water but Chris Sanchez came up with the idea of making them out of the cobblestones, which they loved. Jose made an excellent shading system that nailed the look of the wet gritty surfaces and the weathered stones, which took a lot of love to shape into very uneven bricks.

That’s the trick with making good CG – you have to spend a lot of time modeling the imperfections or it will miss the mark. It will look stiff and look like a video game. Same with the camera work – you have to make cameras that feel heavy and are hard to throw around. The more of a human touch you can bring into CG the better it looks and feels.

They also wanted to have a carriage break frame and cut to the opening shot but I thought it would be more interesting to just wip the camera up to the first shot. Todd used camera projection techniques for it to marry properly. I also wanted leaves to blow across the surface but we just ran out of time.

Opening Studio Logos (Click to Watch Quicktime)

ATS: The Illustrated Paper + Illustrated Times motif that permeates both the opening and closing title sequences – period sketches speckled with patterns in the clues and fine detail in the patterns. What tools did you use to accomplish this?

DY: A lot of human hands, a photocopier, ink footage and a few photoshop filters.

ATS: What is it to push for something more than the audience is used to? Do you wrestle with taking creative risks? How do you balance and/or meld doing something because it strikes you vs. doing something overtly reflective of the body of the film? When do you hold to a vision and when do your experiment?

DY: I always experiment and I always push. That is what client wants and it is what I am being paid to do. But if I ignore the brief then anything I do becomes worthless to them. Or if I design something that is too abstract and self-inflated then it becomes meaningless no matter how beautiful it is. It has to communicate and it has to be interesting and stimulating – in that order. It is funny though that we call these “creative risks” – I think the only risk you take is when you ignore the client. And if you are going to do that then you better also have their version or you may get fired from the assignment. It’s a matter of trust – that’s all. And once that is established most smart clients will give you freedom.

Hallucination VFX (Click to Watch Quicktime)

ATS: What are some of the lessons in title design that you’ve used in your process? Did you learn anything new on Sherlock Holmes?

DY: It has to work perfectly with the film. I’m a guitarist so I like to look at it like a solo break – I get my short time in the spotlight but I have to use it to make the song better. If I play sloppy it makes it worse. If I play too fast and show off it might get interesting but it is inappropriate.

ATS: What gets you thinking differently? What new technologies are you embracing?

DY: Travel and people and nature. I’m interested in some of the newer apps like Houdini and Nuke. I would also like to buy myself a Canon 7d sometime soon.

ATS: What brings you the most satisfaction? Seeing the final piece onscreen? Or is it the process that brings you joy?

DY: Both. I love the process – I get to learn so many things and get to sharpen my skills, but I also get very “locked in” to what I’m doing. There’s a level of commitment to the process that makes you go very deep and explore every aspect – it becomes apparent to you that you are created for that very thing. And when you realize that you pour yourself into every part of the process of exploration. It is only something that those who have been there can understand. We are created to create. When we realize what we are good at and pursue it with all we have it becomes very rewarding intellectually as well as spiritually.

Sherlock Holmes Main Titles (Click to Watch Quicktime)

As far as seeing it on the screen – you forget all the pain you have been through. It is a cliché I know but it is like giving birth. You forget the hardship and long hours and stressed relationships and you walk away with a satisfaction that you did your best. And everyone you worked with is better as a result if you handled the job well.

ATS: Following on from that, how does that satisfaction manifest itself to you?

DY: It makes me grow as an individual by learning from mistakes as well as successes. It is very humbling to be able to do for a living what I love.

ATS: So what excites you outside of the design field?

DY: My family and riding my dirt bike and photography. I also love speaking at conferences – I meet so many cool people and get to see new places.

ATS: What’s next for you?

DY: I’m working on Iron Man 2 and things are looking good so far.

For our first post in 2010 we revisit the “How We Built Britain” titles with an interview with their creator Gareth Edwards. This was requested by some readers, facilitated by others and now available to all and feels like the perfect way to begin this new decade. Edwards, a truly multi-talented designer/visual effects artist/director has worked for the BBC on numerous productions including “Seven Wonders of the Industrial World” and “Attila the Hun,” this year completes his first feature film, “Monsters.”

A tangle of utility in both architecture and typography offers a fascinatingly structured title sequence for the BBC’s “How We Built Britain” that bespeaks an acquisitive England. The artificial monuments of type seem proportionally sound, the final title card an achievement of engineering.

Art of the Title: Tell us a little bit about where you are with your career.

Gareth Edwards: I kind of got into graphic design by accident. I always grew up wanting to be a filmmaker. But when I went to film school (about 15 years ago) it was very clear that computers were going to be the future of filmmaking. So I bought one, learned the software, and got completely sidetracked in a career doing visual effects, title sequences etc. Over the last few years I was able to use this skill to bribe companies like the BBC into letting me direct TV shows, by promising to add lots more production value through creating my own digital effects. I’m currently finishing the post-production on my first feature film called ‘Monsters,’ a sci-fi road movie set in Central America made for Vertigo Films in the UK.

ATS: How did you become involved with How We Built Britain?

GE: I was waiting to begin my next directing project and had a bit of a work gap. I knew the people in BBC Arts through my time doing visual effects with them. The producer called me about the show and it had been a while since I had created a title sequence, so I felt like it could be fun.

ATS: Take us through the design process, how did you develop the concept for the piece?

GE: I remember going to a meeting with the various people at the BBC and pitched about eight different ideas (all of which I quite liked). I was trying to find a simple visual metaphor for their show. By the end, I could tell they didn’t like any of them and I thought ‘well, that’s that then, I guess I won’t be doing this’. Then as the meeting was nearly over and I had a better handle on what they wanted I said ‘Well, we could just do the obvious thing.’ ‘What’s that?’… ‘We could just do the title ‘How We Built Britain’ … as buildings… across Britain,’ I was a bit embarrassed as I said it as it felt a bit clichéd, but they loved it!

ATS: Describe the development process of the sequence.

GE: Once we had agreed on the concept, everything else fell into place very easily. None of the footage was specifically shot for the titles, so I spent a day sitting through all their helicopter footage that they had filmed for the series, looking for shots where I might be able to add giant letters. I then did a very rough edit and tracked the footage adding a simple ‘Arial’ font as an example of where each letter would go. They really liked what they saw and didn’t want me to change anything, including the font! (Although I have nothing against Arial either).

ATS: What equipment (hardware/software) did you use?

GE: I created the 3D letters in 3ds Max. My 3D skills back then were pretty average, so I just modeled and textured as best I could. I used Photoshop for textures (taken from other buildings found in the rushes). Everything was comped in After Effects, which didn’t require much work other than grading, rotoscoping, etc. The 3D was tracked using Boujou (just the version where you push a button, as I’m no expert tracker either).

ATS: What was the most difficult aspect of this piece?

GE: I guess the tracking was hardest. Some of the elements do slide around in some of the shots and I had to go in by hand and squash and stretch elements to make it less noticeable. What’s funny is that I think when people know something can’t be real, they are much better at spotting it. But there is a shot in there where I replaced and added an entire mountain range (the first car POV of the ‘I’) to help it cut with the following shot. The tracking on that isn’t great either, but because you assume it’s real, nobody ever notices.

ATS: What did you learn on this design?

GE: That it’s good to be open minded and listen to your producers (sometimes). They know their project much better than you ever will. I think if I had gone with any of my original designs, I might have created something that I would have liked, but would not have been as good for the show. I also learned that some people care more a lot more about fonts than me!

ATS: What recent work has taken you by surprise?

GE: I haven’t really been following motion graphics as much as I used to. I can’t help feeling that what we went through a few years back with the birth of digital animation/graphic design, was a bit like in the sixties with the birth of rock n’ roll. There was suddenly this new frontier that everyone dived into and came up with lots of really cool work. I think it’s such a fast moving, incestuous industry, that it is very hard to create anything timeless. As a result, I don’t really find myself sitting and watching any of my old favourite graphic design DVDs, but I’m always sitting and watching my old favourite films, which I think says a lot – that a great story will stay with you much longer than a great design. But on very rare occasions something comes along that manages to combine both, and it is those pieces of work that will outlive us all.

ATS: So what’s next for you?

GE: I’m just finishing the post production on my first film ‘Monsters,’ which I need to get much better at explaining in just one sentence. It’s kind of a monster movie, but set years after most monster movies end, when people aren’t running and screaming anymore, but life just goes on as normal with these ‘things’ in part of the world. We shot it all very guerrilla style in Central America. Apart from our two main characters, everyone else in it are real people just going about their real lives, with all the sci-fi elements being added in digitally afterwards. As a result I think we’ve created a very believable world with some really subtle performances. I can’t wait for it to be finished and start showing people… and not an Arial font in sight! Actually, maybe a few on some road signs here and there, but just for realism!

“As time evolved so did the means of artistically replicating reality, from cave drawings…to engraving, to painting, to photography, and to its (thus far) most convincing form, cinema. In the task of duplicating reality cinema has surpassed all other forms of representation.” – From “André Bazin Revisited” – Donato Totaro

“A fertile tomb where the spirits of ancestors brood over the unbroken seeds of the future.” – Author Stephen Wright

Art of the Title: What was your approach to directing the end credit sequence? What were the first questions you had and how were the answers arrived at?

Jim Capobianco: Unlike our credits in the past, the main goal of the credits was to finish the story. To communicate that the humans were going to be okay. They would survive. It became a balancing act of telling the survival story, using art history to do it and to make sure things weren’t too distracting from the names themselves.

ATS: How did you go about developing story with Scott, under the aegis of Jim?

Alex Woo: It was a lot of brainstorming and research. We started by figuring out the different points of the re-civilization process of Earth 2.0 that we wanted to highlight. The early stuff was pretty straight-forward: the invention of fire, irrigation, agriculture, etc. Things got more complex the further along we got on the civilization track (division of labor, trade, development of architecture). We didn’t want earth 2.0 to follow the same destructive path that forced the humans to leave the planet in the first place. We ultimately decided that we would stop our depiction of the re-civilization process somewhere before the industrial revolution. I think the last thing we depict is the discovery of electricity. Once we figured out which milestones we wanted to hit, it just became a matter of finding the connective tissue between those points.

ATS: What were your references? Why were these eras chosen?

JC: Andrew told us to make it as if you opened one of those enormous art history books we all had as art students. The difficulty was in what art to show, how to integrate it into the narrative and then to keep the animation economical. We knew from Kevin O’Brien’s beat boards that we would start with cave paintings but in Kevo’s initial pitch of the idea the art was all over the place. So we had to figure out timeline wise how to proceed. We soon realized that about the time of the Renaissance, art becomes associated with particular artists and more specific to that artist.

Before that it is easier to generalize the art. Some Egyptologist might be able to tell you who created certain Hieroglyphs but the audience is just going to lump together Egyptian Hieroglyphs. They are graphic, the greek pottery and mosaics also very graphic and lent themselves to a stylized simple form of animation but once you get into the renaissance everyone is saying that is Da Vinci or Michelangelo and things get complicated. You begin to ask yourself, “Are we saying that the Axiom Humans had another Da Vinci?” And it gets worse the more modern you get. So we started to refer to each section as a period and had to find an iconic style to represent that time in art which inevitably became associated with a famous artist of that time.

AW: Well, we were doing research along two different tracks. The first was researching the history of human civilization. For this, we used mostly the internet (Wikipedia!), and our own (limited) knowledge of history. The second track was the history of artistic expression. A lot of that reference came from art history books. I brought in an art history book that I had from college. Jim brought in a whole bunch of books from his own personal collection. It was a bit like doing a school project!

When we were choosing the eras, we tried to match the developments of Earth 2.0 with the developments of artistic expression in our history (Earth 1.0). So, for example, the development of fire in Earth 2.0 was depicted with cave painting, the earliest form of artistic expression from Earth 1.0. One problem we ran into was that there wasn’t always a direct correlation between a development in civilization and a distinct form of artistic expression. For example, the invention of irrigation occurred around the 6th millennium BC, but we used Greek Pottery from 5th Century BC to depict it. The way we got around this was to assume that the developments in artistic expression in Earth 2.0 would only very loosely follow the path that it took in Earth 1.0.

ATS: Why is 2D animation such a highly regarded way to end, and sometimes bookend, a 3D feature? As this is a recurring theme, do you get the sense of a potential resurgence in 2D features?

JC: The graphic nature of the text of the titles themselves lends to a more 2D approach I guess. The text is in 2D space so it is easy to imagine other 2D elements occupying that space and interacting with the text. 2D is also visually distinct from the CG feature so it may keep a few more people in their seats after the show is over to see something new. It is also I would imagine cheaper to execute. As far as will we see a resurgence of 2D features because there are a lot of 2D titles out there I don’t think they are one and the same. A 2D feature is definitely a viable way to make a film. It is a tool that has it strengths and does things CG just shouldn’t do or can’t do. And vice versa.

It’s just that someone is going to have to come along with a story told in 2D that just works so well in 2D. Perhaps a more graphic form of 2D. There is this film out in Ireland right now, The Secret of Kells and it looks tremendous, very graphic looking, stylized animation. Taking it’s design cue from illuminated manuscripts. I think this is they way things will go in 2D. 2D will come about again because it is the best way to tell that director’s vision of the story. Not necessarily that story! That is bullshit! I am tired of hearing the “Why would you animate that story?” It is about the design of how it is told. Look you could take a story like The Three Pigs and tell it in any form of animation or film for that matter these days and each form would give you a different feel for the same story.

Think about it you have photographs of boats, watercolors of boats, oils of boats, pastels of boats, computer images of boats they all say boat. Are some stories better suited to a certain medium? You bet. Toy Story works great in CG, obviously, probably not in hand drawn animation but it could have been done in live action with computers and pretty cool in stop motion! But it is done in CG and great in CG.

AW: I have no idea why it’s a highly regarded way to end a 3D feature. I actually don’t know if that’s an accurate description of 2D animation titles. I don’t think directors are choosing to do 2D animated titles because they’re ‘highly regarded’ or because it’s the popular thing to do. My guess is that it’s coming more from a place of a love for the art form and the aesthetic that 2D brings.

ATS: How does traditional animation influence your work?

JC: Huge. It is in my blood. I love it. Since I storyboard it influences how I depict a shot or board the character. I realized though that the animation I grew up on, that I went to school to learn and wanted to do is dead. It died long before CG usurped 2D. It passed away with the demise of the theatrical short. The animation at Warner Bros and the Disney stuff of the late 30’s , 40’s and Fifties, I am talking about. This was pure animation and the way those old guys thought about story was pure animation. It is hard to describe but they weren’t trying to get close to live-action or even the illusion of life they new the medium they were in and these guys knew how to milk it. I find the last two projects I had the good fortune to make have been my attempt to capture a little of that pure 2D animation.

AW: I LOVE traditional animation. It’s what got me into the world of animation and film in the first place. When I think of traditional animation, of GOOD traditional animation, I think of it as the foundation of what I’m doing now in 3D. It’s where I got all of my principles: design, composition, performance, timing, etc. For me, traditional animation formed the foundation from which I’ve built my understanding and love for film.

ATS: Do you begin working on the titles before story is finished?

JC: Nope, not in my experience. The titles are such an after thought it is almost like someone wakes up one morning in a cold sweat realizing that they hadn’t put any titles on their film and then it is hurry up get some credits on this thing! It is the nature of the beast, no one wants to think about the titles, they are too involved in getting a film done to attach to the credits. This hurts us a bit in artist resources and the time crunch but you learn to be flexible and resourceful. I actually kind of like it. I like being scrappy and being forced to figure out how to make the best of what I’ve got on hand.

ATS: How did you decide on the order of the painterly flourishes? How did you emulate the textures of the artwork?

JC: We landed early on with Van Gogh, Kevin had put WALL·E and EVE in this lush feeling Van Gogh and it felt to both Andrew and I that that was were we should end with the cards. It was a good depiction of the Earth’s vegetation fully back. We then worked backwards. Van Gogh is post-impressionist so naturally we had to have impressionist and Seurat seemed right, his idyllic sunday in the park. The period between flemish drawings and the impressionists was a bit difficult to figure out. We couldn’t really do anything super representational like Rembrandt. since every section was going to have some animation in it. It seemed we could get away with more if we could stay abstract. Like the earlier art forms lent themselves to.

So the painting sections became real nail biters. This goes back to art periods being represented by particular artists. Once you say okay this is going to be Turner like into Seurat like into Van Gogh like you now have to pull off these particular painting styles. We have very talented artist at Pixar, the best, but I didn’t know if the painter I would get would be able to pull this off. Maybe they could do one of the styles. But we persevered and we got John Lee who basically could be an art forger. I am so grateful for what he brought to the piece, he actually suggested Turner for the pre-impressionist painting. I was able to sleep again. As far as technique it was mostly done in photoshop. John is just a whiz with his tools. Really unbelievable.

ATS: What’s the ratio, if any, of traditional vs. digital in this piece?

AW: When you’re referring to traditional vs. digital, do you mean hand drawn vs. After Effects? I think the question assumes a dichotomy that doesn’t necessarily exist. All of the animation and the backgrounds in the titles were put together digitally, painted digitally, and timed digitally. There was a lot of hand drawn work in there (the actual frames of animation, and even some backgrounds Scott painted on real media and then scanned in to the computer and further manipulated it), but all of it went through some form of digital manipulation. I don’t know if I can give you a proper ratio.

ATS: Why the 8-bit style characters in the long credit roll?

JC: Originally we were talking about carrying the art history into the crawl with 20th century art – cubism, Pollock, etc. but then Alex and Scott Morse had the idea to design the crawl as 8-bit. At first I wasn’t sure the style would work after Van Gogh but I guess since the “they survive” narrative was done with the cards we had license to play with a new thing. I also didn’t know until it was pretty much irreversible if this would work with Peter Gabriel’s song. But it is amazing how our minds associate images with what information we are given, auditory, visual, and just makes a connection. We had such a success with the 8-bit Mountie in “Your Friend the Rat” (it always gets a laugh) it was fun to be in that world again and it struck me as funny that here you just watched a feature of probably the most advanced computer graphics around and we end it with the most primitive. All the characters were designed by Scott and then animated by Catherine Kelly in After Effects.

AW: Because it was so cool! We pitched three ideas for the credit roll, and one of them was the 8-bit version. We pitched them all to Andrew, and he picked the 8-bit one. There was a reference to Pong in the film, so we figured this would be the next step in the development of that gaming technology for them.

ATS: What does Pixar look for in an up and coming animator? Can you offer an example of a career trajectory within Pixar?

JC: Pixar looks for people who can tell a story with what they do. For an animator it could be a unique way someone may act a scene with a character. In story boarding, it could be an interesting sensible perhaps unique approach to the material. We are really interested in the individual artist and what s/he can bring to the films. We always want to see personal artwork in an artist’s portfolio. This way we can get a gage of what makes them tick, what their interests are.

ATS: Tell us a secret; something you use that works most, if not all of the time.

JC: Be brave enough to take educated risks and apologize after. I believe this is how you get really great, interesting unique stories and storytelling. Here is another for the price of one. Always move. Don’t sit around waiting for approval or something to happen. I have found there is always something to do on your project. Even if it is the smallest thing it keeps the momentum going and momentum is everything. By always moving it gets you that much closer to getting the project done and you stay ahead of the people who feel it is there job to judge and can put a stop to what you are trying to say before you’ve had a chance to say it. Like a shark keep moving or die.

AW: Hm… follow your instincts, but be very open to critical feedback. Truth is hard to hear sometimes, but it needs to be heard, because it’s truth!

ATS: What do you have on the horizon? What did you learn on WALL·E that you will take into future projects?

JC: At Pixar I’ve been bopping around helping out here and there. Outside of work I have been concentrating on some of my own projects. I have a short hand animated film titled “Leonardo” I am finishing after ten years of weekends and stolen time. That will be out in festivals hopefully this year and next. The look we achieved in the Renaissance section of the credits is reminiscent of how I am finishing the look of “Leonardo”. So it actually gave me the chance to see how to pull it together that way. I’ve learned so much working on these projects, Your Friend the Rat and WALL·E’s credits, it is hard to pin point one thing I would take forward. I really like the people I’ve worked with and some of the same crew came on to the credits from the short. Alex, Scott Morse, Bob Scott, Willy Hwang, Kirstophe Vergne, Chris O’Dowd, and I would work with them all again and again if given the chance.