Richard Morrison Creates Title Sequence For 'Off Camera' Festival Of Independent Film

Award-winning film titles designer Richard Morrison created a title sequence for the second edition of International Festival of Independent Cinema 'Off Camera' in Krakow, Poland.
Morrison, who has completed over 200 title sequences including many for Hollywood's leading film directors, was a guest speaker at the first edition of the 'Off Camera' festival last year and was subsequently asked to create the festival's title sequence to further cement its credibility and international aspirations.
The title sequence is inspired by Morrison's work on Tim Burton's iconic Batman 1984 opening credit and focuses on the festival's branding. Its logo is built into iconic images incorporating the use of 'Off Camera' screenhead characters to emphasise the moving image of independent cinema.
The creative arrangement aims to reflect the aura of independent cinema and highlight its reminiscent features; typically low budget, experimentalism and artistry in its own nature.
The opener alludes to the festival's growing authority following the unprecedented success of the first edition and subsequent involvement of the independent cinema's leading figureheads including John Cooper, Artistic Director of Sundance Film Festival.
Richard Morrison, Film Titles Designer, said: "The sequence tries to illustrate the breadth of work that will unfold during the festival. So, by watching this, viewers can get an understanding of the cinema they can expect to see. This opener is a tantalising glimpse of what the festival has to offer. "
The title sequence also aims to preserve the festival's unique arty feel and so distances itself from the glamour of events like the Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, the title opener emanates a sense of the festival's location, the city of Krakow. This was achieved by transforming a series of projected images onto the festival's iconic branding. The selected images feature Krakow's unique architecture, its buildings, traditionally dressed local people and the city's café society.
In terms of technical arrangement, the creative process encompassed stages of storyboarding with a pencil, followed by the creation of organic textures using th1ng animation studio's in-house media library. This involved working on a text logo as a 3D model and texturing it to achieve a 3D granite feel. Also added was volumatic light for a dramatic effect created in 2D with After Effects.
The final stage developed creative concepts in 3D models to which photoreel pieces were added onto branded text. All 3D elements were created in Maya. The effect of film noir is also used to show a glimpse of past filmic experiences and the festival's logo resolves in a grand finale. All CGI was carried out by th1ng's animator Alp Boysan and Ravi Swami completed compositing and editing. Morrison also proposed his own reflection of a music score to go with the title sequence.
Further information is available at: www.th1ng.com.
(KMcA/BmcC)