Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for titles and various film graphics
Winner: Bronze - Clio Awards for Theatrical/Film Motion Graphics
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I had the pleasure of designing the titles and numerous elements throughout the film “Bullet Train” with the great team at Picturemill. Director David Leitch was great to collaborate with and championed the designs all the way throughout animation.
This includes the main title card, the various character IDs, locator cards, subtitles, mains on end credits and the end crawl.
Each presented its own unique needs and tone that felt thematically and visually consistent with the film.
My designs would be a mere shadow of themselves without the incredible animation talents of Nelson Yu, Jason Marconi, Angus Lyne, Sonia Kiran and Tom Brink and the superb editorial talents of Dustin Frost. Thanks to the creative leadership of Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director for title sequence
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The opening credits for “The Offer” emerged from the idea of the cutting room floor and echoing the behind the scenes work of the many talented people involved with bringing “The Godfather” to life that the show itself focused on.
The incredibly talented Tnaya Witmer designed a storyboard sequence around this thought. Tnaya’s board captured the spirit of the leftover heads and tails of takes from the film production, the footage that a camera accidentally left running captured or behind the scenes moments meant to document the troubled production’s process.
Using Tnaya’s sequence as a starting point, Picturemill collaborated with the show creative’s to begin bringing the idea to life. David Midgen, Dustin Frost, John Frost and myself were allowed on set during filming to shoot our own moments between takes and capture the performers, set and action in ways that would never be seen in the episodes. That’s my hand lifting the film reel from the shelf, for example!
Dustin Frost expertly combined our own footage with some key ideas and visuals from unused takes in the show to build the structure of the titles. Working with animators Nelson Yu and Jason Marconi, we treated the footage to have a distinct look of the period and feel like the leftovers from the story’s production without being too vintage or damaged.
It is a sequence that I’m very proud of and was certainly a team effort accomplishing the result from design to delivery. Thanks as always to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen for their invaluable direction and creativity.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for titles and various film graphics
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Director JJ Perry was looking for a stylistic title card and end credits sequence for his vampire action film “Dayshift” and our team at Picturemill was excited to collaborate with him.
I developed designs for multiple approaches to the title and end credits that echoed ideas and themes from the film. The direction that was ultimately decided on was a nod to classic horror elements and customized typography that echoed ideas from the classics.
Once a direction was selected, we were able to bring the design to life in animation with the talented Angus Lyne. Angus’ eye for horror and optical film helped propel the end credits forward with fun surprises to keep the it entertaining throughout.
Modeling a 3D title based on one of my proposed animation designs, Angus’ shotgun blast of a title card reveal out of the Los Angeles sky helped bookend the film with memorable visuals.
We also created film graphics for subtitles that were treated to match specific characters and cell phone text message conversations.
The creative leadership and input of Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen can’t be overstated, as their suggestions always help refine and improve anything that they touch.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for opening title sequence
Winner: Silver - Promax Awards 2022 Title Sequence
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I had the incredible fortune of working with the creative powerhouses Jorma Taccone and Will Forte to create the opening title sequence for Peacock’s 2021 revival of the iconic “MacGruber.”
Working closely with the pair, I developed a design that nodded to classic, espionage-action properties while blending in the unmistakeable, larger than life qualities of our hero.
We had a production shoot with Will Forte to capture the many sides and emotions of MacGruber (and Will was just the absolute best, most enthusiastic guy in the world). The sequence is 100x better because of his willingness to go above and beyond.
Super editor Dustin Frost and animator extraordinaire Nelson Yu honed our sequence and elevated the footage to the incredible, final version in the show. Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen made it all possible and brought so much creativity to the shoot and across the project that made it what it is.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for title sequence
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This was such a fun design to create! We had a great time crafting a sequence that captured the spirit of Creator Cinco Paul’s delightful, musical series “Schmigadoon!” and blending it with the sensibilities of classic films of the genre.
My designs were printed on physical cards and photographed to create the authentic feeling they were after, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
Many thanks to Creative Director William Lebeda, Executive Producer David Midgen and Animator Nelson Yu for helping bring this sequence to life.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for title sequence
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Getting to reimagine a title sequence for the reboot of the beloved “Saved By The Bell” was a blast! The show creators approached Picturemill looking for an updated visual style that was inspired by the original sequence but felt fun and contemporary. Doing a playful take on vaporwave stylings and playing off the details of the classic opening, I designed a celebratory journey through the lens of 2020.
Each moment was designed to highlight the cast alongside character details and nods to personalities that all felt cohesive but distinct. The palette used vibrant pastels and near-neon tones that keep energy high.
The incredibly talented animation of Nelson Yu and Sonia Kiran transformed design elements into 3D animated models and got everything looking beautiful in motion.
Thanks to Creative Director William Lebeda, Executive Producer David Midgen and Producer Evan Jackson for helping shape and complete this sequence with your invaluable contributions.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for opening prologue and main title card, 2D pencil animation for opening prologue. Design layout for end credits sequence.
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The world has been changed forever by mutated, monstrous versions of creatures native to our planet and humans must fight for survival and love in the film “Love and Monsters.”
Picturemill was tasked with crafting an opening prologue to help set the stage for the events in the film that reflected the irreverent and young perspective of its protagonist. Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen and myself collaborated with a storyboard artist to establish the narrative moments in the sequence along with editor Dustin Frost.
When the story had been decided, I interpreted the storyboard beats through the lens of the teen protagonists’ artwork that appeared in the film to create artwork and animation that was consistent with established visuals.
Animator Jon Wolfe brought these setups to life with his great eye for motion and camera work during animation and composite. This continued through the mains on end credits where I created composition layouts using production artwork from the protagonist’s sketchbook to conclude the film.
The title card was designed to echo the visuals of nature reclaiming the world and seeing the effects of time and damage from the great creatures.
Thanks to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen for allowing me to stretch my 2D pencil animation muscles again and their great creative leadership throughout the design.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for title sequence
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We have left planet Earth and arrived at a new, far distant location in seasons 6 and 7 of “The 100.” The show team was looking for an update to their title sequence that kept the familiar momentum, easter eggs and sense of dangerous adventure that they were known for but adapting it to the alien landscapes and ideas that would be discovered throughout the seasons.
Working with production, we collaborated to bring locations to life that matched the ambition of the show and felt true to the aesthetic and variety that would be featured in the episodes. Graphic UI identifies paths, unfamiliar plant life, anomalies and mysterious structures that would soon become familiar to viewers.
Working with editor Dustin Frost and animators Nelson Yu, Jon Block, Sonia Kiran and John Bellas, we brought my design frames to life in a propulsive sequence that contains secrets for fans and the essentials to gaining your footing in this new world.
Thanks to the creative leadership and direction of Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen. Thanks to the great support and organizational efforts of Producer Evan Jackson.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director and designer for main title
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Director Rachel Talalay was interested in starting her film “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting” with an intriguing but eerie title card reveal that alluded to the nature of the creatures and world that would be revealed throughout the story.
I designed a sequence that had the viewer rushing through underground caves that were used by some of the film’s creatures before crashing out into the sky to find the other credits. The title card itself hangs invisible in front of a house, its contour only slightly visible by heavy rainfall until a lightning strike reveals the title, glowing from within by a threatening light.
Editor Dustin Frost and animators Jon Block and John Bellas determined the timing and created the 3D elements to translate my boards into the completed main title sequence in the film.
Thanks as always to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen for their insight and leadership and to Producer Evan Jackson for his know-how and expertise throughout.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Art Director, designer for opening titles
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Amazon Studios’ “The Pack” features human and dog companions on a journey of a life time visiting and competing at various locations around the world.
Picturemill was approached to design a total graphics package for the show and a title sequence that captured the globe-trotting fun and relationships the teams shared.
I designed a colorful sequence of images that contained light hearted and endearing moments of the pairs that could flip to reveal other pairings or exciting hints to the destinations and events across the season. The sequence concludes with a title card reveal based on the Amazon designed logo.
Animator Jason Marconi went above and beyond bringing my design frames to life in this delightful sequence, making it a fun reminder why dogs are considered such loyal and great companions.
Thanks as always to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen for the excellent direction and ideas and to Producer Evan Jackson for his amazing production skills and his infectious love for the canine stars.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Designer for title sequence
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The seemingly perfect appearance of a small town collides with its dangerous underbelly in this sequence I designed for the series “Dare Me.”
Day and night cuts through locations revealing the many sides to the events in the show. The title card appears in rhythmic portions, echoing the cheerleader aspect of the show.
The amazing animator Jon Wolfe transformed my design frames into the motion pieces in the final sequence that was edited by Dustin Frost.
Thanks for the amazing direction and creative leadership from Creative Director William Lebeda and David Midgen and thanks to Producer Evan Jackson for his insight and expertise.
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Designer for end credit sequence and main title card
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I had the pleasure of designing the titles and numerous elements throughout the film “Bullet Train” with the great team at Picturemill. Director David Leitch was great to collaborate with and championed the designs all the way throughout animation.
Designing the end credits sequence for Director Travis Knight’s “Bumblebee” was such a great experience. Celebrating the adventure and heart of the characters in the film, these elements were reimagined as graphic moments in the iconic Bumblebee colors.
Our wonderful 3D animator and artist Jon Block brought the Decepticons and a bit of Bumblebee himself to life using the models from VFX and the fantastic Nelson Yu and Ben Segall tackled animating and compositing the entire sequence making it the beautiful version it became. Really can’t praise them enough for bringing it all together and the finer details they brought to it all.
Thanks and thanks to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen for an endless supply of creativity and insight. The suggestion early on the print out the roughs of the full sequence and hang them up to work out the flow and transitions really lead to some of the best parts in the final work. Great work, team Picturemill!
Production Company: Picturemill
Role: Designer and animator for title cards
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Several years ago, I helped bring the main title for the series “Damnation” to life. Giving each episode a unique treatment and placed contextually in a part of a scene, I was responsible for the design and execution of episodes 1-9. The extremely talented Nelson Yu tackled episode 10. It was the first time I had worked on a title card that would evolve over each episode, and it was fun to riff on the colors, lights, camera and tone of the shots to customize the main title however best supported the needs of the episode story.
It was a challenge that tested my after effects know-how at the time but one that I felt proud of afterward and still think fondly of. Thanks as always to Creative Director William Lebeda and Executive Producer David Midgen of Picturemill for their invaluable insight, feedback and direction throughout the project.
