Production Concept Unit: Title Sequence

I've spent the past week going through each page of the book we're making, adding the content and designing it so it comes together as a full professional package. There are a few more tweaks to be made before we send it to be printed. 

I'm now going to concentrate on making the title sequence which I have already shot. And continue storyboarding the opening of the pilot. This is the website where I do most of my research into title sequences. 

The purpose of a title sequence is to set the mood or tone of the show with conceptual visuals and sound. It also expresses the concept of the show and sets the backstory. It will feature the typographic logo and present key production and cast members. For some title sequences they aim to capture the audience attention and draw them in. 

The length of title sequences for American shows varies, I watch a lot of US series so I'm familiar with many title sequences. Because the series are longer for US shows, the audiences tend to watch episodes back-to-back. Ideally for television shows, as opposed to film, title sequences are shorter; such as 24's titles being 12 seconds. Breaking Bad's title sequence is only 17 seconds: 

The Mad Men title sequence, created by Imaginary Forces, is longer at 37 seconds:

The Walking Dead's title sequence, created by yU + co is 38 seconds:

With this in mind, there is a limit to how long the title sequence should be to fit in with AMC's programming. As I've already storyboarded and shot the title sequence, I've now got to add the style through effects and colour. More stylish title sequences have complicated movements which are more animated, such as the new bond film Skyfall. It was made by Daniel Kleinman, a British commercial and music video director and title sequence designer. He began as an illustrator before going into music videos and advertising. Here are just some clips from the sequence, the whole sequence can be found here. 

For me, there are two main companies which make title sequences that stand out for their style. The first I have mentioned before are Imaginary Forces, they have made title sequences for Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie, The Pacific, Rubicon, Se7en, The Number 23, The Negotiator and more. They are a design-based production studio which specialise in main titles, marketing, branding, design, commercial advertising and interactive design. 

The second company is Digital Kitchen, who have made titles for Six Feet Under, Dexter and True Blood. They specialise in creating brands with a team of transmedia talent who can move from platform to platform with the brand's story. They believe the role of the "producer" and "director" have changed dramatically, they take on many roles and move with the brand when it comes to: titles, commercials, billboards, print ads, music videos, short films, websites, apps etc. With Man Alive, I feel I'm doing the same by directing, designing and editing our brand. 

Production Concept Unit: Branding

I've been looking at The Walking Dead on AMC as a case on marketing and ways in which they promote the show and how we could promote Man Alive.

MARKETING

They air older seasons in black and white.

Talking Dead is a chat show dedicated to talking about The Walking Dead and answering fans questions.

Interactive billboards - pose a question, public can interact with the board and vote.

Union station in Toronto - giant walker hands were severed each day leading up to the air date. Fans even had the chance to win a finger.

VIRALS

'The Zombie Experiment' from viral marketing agency Thinkmodo.

Actors in zombie make-up were doing everyday jobs and normal habits and the public reaction was filmed.

APPS

'Dead Yourself' - users take a photo and the app manipulates the image to look zombie-like.

Gains reaction from celebrities.

SOCIAL GAMING

'Story Sync' - fans online can do polls, trivia and watch extra video content while watching the latest episode being broadcasted..

'Left Behind' - Facebook app by Red Bee Media.

A film with uses Facebook connect, and webcams to create a personalised experience for the fans on what it feels like to be left behind as one of the characters.

Production Concept Unit: Title Sequence

Using my shot list, I went out and shot the title sequence for Man Alive. The chosen location was The Chatham Dockyards; for some parts I ended up shooting down the same street in which Les Miserables was filmed. Sherlock Holmes has also been shot there. I chose the location because it ticked all the boxes in terms of what prison-like elements I wanted to include, so it was ideal. For the shoot I took on board all the themes such as the surveillance, control, the number fixation and the lockdown game which may include actual death. I also wanted each shot to look stylish, as most U.S. title sequences are. 

Here are a few stills from the shoot: 

From this angle the dockyards look very prison-like

Now I will decide on what effects to use and how I will use them, the most exciting part will be adding the text and any animation as it will then begin to feel like a title sequence. 

Production Concept Unit: Branding

From billboard placement and designs, I'm also going to transfer our branding onto taxis, bus shelters and onto buses, to show how adaptable we are and show interesting ways to promote the show using various tag-lines. Here is an example. 

From carrying on my research into other AMC programmes and their website content, I've looked at their application ideas and interactive content. I've found that a consistent game in which they adapt is the personality test, which works well as it encourages a fan base and it relates back to the story. On the website, it's also common to find trivia games, challenges and social games which use Facebook to interact with others. As Man Alive is all about interactivity and audience choice, there is definitely potential to create a social game. 

Lauren and I have agreed on the ways in which we're going to bring the project together, so I have been helping to organise the content side so it comes together as a whole branded package against the colour scheme and corporate and "futuristic" style we have been using. Most of the content will be presented in a book which we'll be working on together. It will feature information about the programme such as the synopsis, channel identity, plot diagrams and location information; as well as, branding, marketing and casting choices. 

The other elements of our package are the script, the main character profiles, the treatments for each episode and DVD's providing the title sequence, mood boards and camera tests. We'd also like to create and print a large poster, and we'll also be storyboarding the first episode's teaser.  

Production Concept Unit: Branding

So here's my version of a billboard mock-up for Man Alive. 

I've used the three main character images, as for The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, they commonly use the key characters in their billboard and poster designs. 

There is a tagline, which is also quite typical. Along with AMC's branded logo. 

In keeping with the theme, I've used a specific shade of blue to represent the corruption, and in one example below I've added numbers in the background as a subtle hint of the hacking theme. And in the second example, I have added the location of the prison, but have decided the banner looks best without the prison, and the tagline itself is a suggestion to the prison theme anyway.

The initial design

With prison location

With texture and coded background

Example of how it would look

Production Concept Unit: Branding

After finishing the logo and becoming further along with the story, I'm now creating some billboard designs. I have some artwork in mind, to keep to the themes of the American corporate blue and hacking, to make the heads of the three main characters made up of numbers and lines of code. 

Here are some examples of existing AMC billboards for its flagship shows: 

Interesting spoof of an existing advert and play on words

Advertising on stairs

Curved billboards

Using objects as part of the advert itself

Extra Easter Work

I'd been asked to help out shooting a war style film for some students from another college. It was a very ambitious project which actually made it quite interesting to work on; there were pyrotechnics letting off explosives, war re-enactment groups with lots of real costume and prosthetic make-up and even a proper war-time vehicle. 

It felt good to be shooting again, especially as part of a crew, even if the film is low-budget and filming in the freezing cold!

Here are some sneaky stills. The film is called Juden.