The camera transports the viewer inside the Tarot cards through 3-dimensional interpretations of those works of art, that transition almost seemlessly into a sequence of clips taken from historical films. Each card represents a different element of Carnivàle’s ambiguous storyline. So, both visually and in terms of its meaning, this is a multi-layered opening sequence. Angus Wall points explains the meaning behind each scene in detail on the show’s website, which features a special section devoted to the making of the opening sequence.
Yearly Archives: 2020
Modular by Ash Thorp
Design and motion renaissance man Ash Thorp just released a new three-minute abstract piece for YouTube he describes as “an experiment in two-dimensional design, showcasing an intrinsic depiction of science and technology.”
Gattaca title sequence by Michael Riley
A monotone colour palette – a subtle integration of sans-serf and serif capitals falling in and out of focus – a microscopic viewpoint of trimmed pieces of fingernail falling to the surface followed by hair follicles – sprinkled skin flakes reminding us of snow – then finally a mournful symphonic interlude courtesy of Michael Nyman all add up to what is considered a close-to-perfect title sequence for the extraordinary film Gattaca.
Title Designer and Creative Director of Shine design studio, Michael Riley
ALQUIMIA Animated Type by Pavel Paratov
Type Design: Luis Migel Torres
Sound Design: Satoshi Yoshitake
Motion Design: Pavel Paratov, Art Director and Senior Motion Designer at silasveta.com
American Carnage by Antibody
Motion masters Patrick Clair and Raoul Marks at Antibody make the case for a dark near-future in the US with this speculative explainer positing a civil breakdown in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS by David Fincher and Tim Miller
LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS is an American adult animated anthology web television series on Netflix. The 18-episode first season was released on March 15, 2019. The series is produced by Tim Miller, Joshua Donen, David Fincher and Jennifer Miller.Each episode was animated by different crews from a range of countries. The series is a re-imagining of Fincher and Miller’s long in-development reboot of the 1981 animated science fiction film Heavy Metal.
Tocatta by Optical Arts
Gravity and Bach Collide. London’s Optical Arts keeps the exploratory spirit alive with this live-action ballet of poetic destruction shot at extremely high speeds (between 1000 and 5000 frames per second).
From Optical Arts: “The film is an exploration of the nature of time, the relentless violence of entropy and creative energy, and its relationship to music itself”.
Bach by Stephen Malinowski
Stephen Anthony Malinowski is an American composer, pianist, educator, software engineer, and inventor.
He is best known for his musical animations and his computer program ‘the Music Animation Machine’ which produces animated graphical scores. He visualizes music using a system of colored shapes, taking information from a MIDI file. He has collaborated with artists such as Vincent Lo, Alexander Peskanov, Björk, and the Del Sol Quartet.
Music: Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, J. S. Bach, 2nd movement, Largo ma non tanto played by by Lara St. John and Scott St. John with the New York Bach Ensemble.
Life After Coming Out by CNN Motion
Mark Tedesco joined a seminary in Rome when he was a teenager. Halfway through his education, he began to confront feelings he’d had for much of his life — feelings he wasn’t sure how to reconcile with his faith.
Art director Ignacio Osorio and the team at CNN Motion apply a gentle, compassionate touch to the story of Mark Tedesco, a young priest trying to reconcile his faith and sexuality in the latest episode of CNN’s “Life After” series.
Swing you Sinners by Fleischer Studios
Swing You Sinners! is a 1930 animated cartoon short, directed by the Fleischer Brothers as part of the Talkartoons series. The cartoon is notable for its surreal, dark and sometimes even abstract content.
WALL-E by Pixar Animation Studios
WALL·E) is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction romance film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton.
WALL-E follows a solitary trash compactor robot on a future, uninhabitable, deserted Earth, left to clean up garbage. However, he is visited by a probe sent by the starship Axiom, a robot called EVE, with whom he falls in love and pursues across the galaxy.
Felix Saves the Day by Otto Messmer
The first of the Felix cartoons after the series moved from Paramount, ‘Felix Saves the Day’ sees the titular cat coming to the rescue of a little league team. Produced by Pat Sullivan Cartoons for the creator of Felix the Cat, Otto Messmer. (1922)
Cuphead by Studio MDHR
Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era, i.e. traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings.
The animation process
Character References
References & Inspiration
Studio MDHR
Wash Waltz by Wim Goossens
A short film by Wim Goossens © 2020
Footage filmed at ‘De Walvis’ car wash in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
Music: An der schönen blauen Donau, Johan Strauss by André Rieu.
Sous la glace by Baulard, Berrahma, Dupont, Estampes, Nory & Potin
An allegory about the dangers of following your deepest instincts, “Sous la Glace” (Under the Ice), a CG short film by six students at École des Nouvelles Images comes wrapped in the most sublime digital cinematography.
Directed by Milan Baulard, Ismail Berrahma, Flore Dupont, Laurie Estampes, Quentin Nory, Hugo Potin with music composed by Baptiste Leblanc.