What it should llok like at the end. I felt safer doing a video for the presentation; though now looking at the quality it would be an embarrassment now…

Directors

• Designers from filmmaking backgrounds for film, and television
• Group of designers with varying skills
• Consultation between designer and director of film
• Allow ideas to evolve from listening and discussing the director’s vision
• Director’s choice comes first

Sequence content

• Tone of sequence depend on: themes, style, music, timing, era, symbolism, colours, typography, script, exploring, experimentation, which leads to different answers
• Tone shows the personality of the character
• Emotional tone to create mood
• Technique, ideas and individual style is important; be who you are!
• Have a playful approach to experimentation
• Embrace the story through thoughtful and symbolic expression
• Clarify the story
• Curiosity, excitement, anticipation; sequences to make you feel emotion to have a mood
• Sequence has a beginning, middle, and end
• Keep the titles appearing on the screen to fit the time frame given
• The voice of typography must relate to tone, character
• Ideas, abstract problem solving and lateral thinking involved in narrating an experimental sequence.
• Music and culture influences motion pictures

Processes

• Process starts with: script, rough cuts from film, sketching, research, design phase expressed through storyboards or motion tests, formed concept start shooting/animating, editing.
• Commissioned late in production process of film (editing)
• Heavy research and careful planning; time phrase, cost of production

Advice

• Follow through with an idea
• Keep one project from influencing another
• Each film presents different problem to solve
• Left brain/rational/time based; right brain/creative/accidents thinking combined; inject creative ideas and engage in creative debates
• Technical proficiency is the easy part
• Imitation can only go so far
• Apple+Z saves
• Psychologist input
• Respect type and it will give you back beauty
• Festivals good place to learn and be inspired by smart people
• Client work feeds personal projects with ideas
• Make a network of people you love and trust to be your sound board
• Find out what appeal to you – study your creative genome
• ‘Learn how to talk lawyer’ – Matt Fraction
• Sell what they need
• Smile, shake hands and be gracious
• Talk to everyone, listen and learn
• There are amazing minds around you all the time
• Collaborate

Teamwork

• Why is print design not called ‘static graphics’?!
• Mix of personalities shows the different solutions to each project
• Unpretentious, anti-hierarchical, open minded and friendly helps with teamwork
• Strengths help weaknesses in a team (speciality, visual, concept)

Business

• Business rep to deal with finances and clients

Copy rights

• Belong to producer and director
• Can’t protect the idea, but you can protect the script or film
• Email the script to yourself to have an electronic date it was created
• Images, character design, art design, add a © NAME
• Register your copyright with a copyright registration service: UK Copyright Service/The Script Factory Script Registration Service
• UK copyrights expire within 50 years in which the film was made
• UK copyrights expire within 70 years after the last death from the following – The principal Director; the Author of the screenplay; the Author of the dialogue; the Composer of music specially created for and used in the film.

Funding

• ^3rd party involved in production/exhibition/distribution

• Funding for film/rights/distribution rights
• Given credit to funders

Some companies work in large groups where the head designer (or designer with a good idea – MK12) leads the rest and a rotation in jobs is issued to keep the atmosphere relaxed and designs fresh.

Each project becomes a different problem to solve; pacing of titles constantly on screen, fluidity of motion, communication etc.

With MK12 most of its members didn’t know what they wanted to do after graduating from the same university, as a result formed MK12 through the united realisation of low income, which ironically help establish their particular creative approach to design. Lack of funds meant lack of equipment, and the graphical visuals they produce is the result of solving that problem with the use of equipment readily available to them. As a designing group they have the visual compositions necessary to produce content and among them were some individuals that had some filming experience, and that offered the possibilities of narrating a successful set of title sequences. There’s always a solution if you are resourceful.

Sharpening my skills, and working hard is the next step to getting closer to my aims; a successful designer that can survive in the world, online, and the designing realm (I like food, it keeps me alive). Looking at the caliber of just these designers has set the bar well ahead and I’m so behind. Individual designers collaborate and group together like sheep, maybe sheep to the slaughter (what happens when you get old and rusty?) Where the hell is the shepherd? Who IS the shepherd. Why am I asking these questions, another problem…less dreaming and deviating procrastination (no more balloon defense!).

Mark Gardner and Steve Fuller

• Know the film directors work, to know their style and standards
• The film director sets he bar with their vision; period, tone, signifiers, metaphors, actions
• There’s a build up of tension and climax that come to a consequential outcome, which still leaves the viewers wondering what the details of the film would consist of; not giving away the end of the story.

‘Mark brought it together — the idea of everything coming together in the fall, the building collapsing around him, tumbling in turmoil and him snapping out, perfectly composed in that confident position he is in the end.’ – Steve Fuller

• Speed of footage can give different effects: slowing down footage – dream life effect. (Mad Men)
• Look at a good piece and strip down their solution to its real pure form.
• Keep it simple to its elements
• It needs to match the tone of the film
• Music helps to set the tone

Mad Men

Saul Bass’s Ocean’s 11

• Each film presents a different problem to solve
• ‘Everything your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might.’ – Kyle Cooper
• Creative work on the titles comes at the post-production of the film.
• Production starts in the final stages of the film
• Directors call on Cooper for him to tap into the symbolism of a film
• Extensive research and designing their own typeface to fit in the tone of the film.
• “More often than not, Kyle is saying, ‘I know how to make these pieces fit together. I have this recipe in my head, and none of you know how to work together in the way I know you should.’” – Andrea Codrington
• Created interactive credits allowing the user to change the typeface
• Print design provide great single moments, but a sequence has a beginning, middle and end.
• “Titles must be born out of the content of the film itself—they’re in service of the film’s story, and even if they’re visually interesting, they should have a deeper meaning and connect with the movie’s characters.” –Kyle Cooper
• His job to listen to the directors needs and produce a sequence in that vision of the director
• “When collaborating with other people, you cannot always have the definitive answer—you have to allow ideas to evolve, and that comes from listening and talking things out.” – Kyle Cooper
• Try to not let one project influence another, each title sequence has its own voice; informed but the film’s content and context.
• Researching, experimenting and exploring ideas for film leads you to different answers
• “I try to do as much as possible in the camera, or with my hands, although that’s increasingly hard to do today” – Kyle Cooper
• Tools do not dictate the direction of ideas
• “They should make you feel something emotionally, and make you thrilled to be in a particular cinema at a particular moment, getting ready to see a particular movie. We strive to make everything else in the world go away except the curiosity, excitement, and feeling of anticipation for the film you’re about to see. If you’re already immersed in the emotional tone of the film or have insights into the main character’s thought process before the film begins, we have achieved what we strive for, and I hope the work we create continues to emotionally engage people in this way.” – Kyle Cooper
• Working the Hideo Kojima in MGS 2-3 the need to create a cinematic feel (orchestral music) and interactivity between user and title sequences/credits; changing text and skins
• Provide an over view, and creating an emotional tone to create mood
• Symbolic and thoughtful, embracing the story, clarifying the plot, or set up the characters personality or pathology
• Reading the script of the film or story of the game is a must
• Allot of analysing, looking for themes, motifs, recurring narrative tools, etc



• Direct and design mostly for film, television, and environmental projects
• Title sequences starts off with the consultation between the designer and director; basic themes, concept in the script, sometimes there’s one clear idea or a couple of directions that needs experimentation to see what makes sense for the film
• Title sequences are commissioned late in the production process; when the film is being edited.
• Sometimes the director would discuss ideas during shooting which is a good time to film things for the sequence
• Process starts by reading the script, seeing scenes or rough cut of the film. From there sketching, writing researching and design phase help develop concepts expressed thorough storyboards, or motion tests. With the concept formed, shooting or animating the sequence takes place then editing it. Adjustments can be made if the film changes and evolves.
• ‘Play’ is the ideal spirit behind the process of production and figuring things out.

SAUL BASS

• Like making a poster – condensing the event into one concept-one metaphor, a back narration or introduction of a character.
• Aesthetics is important even if nobody cares even the director. Care about their work.