MGFX Studio create explosive title sequence for Mark One's After Effects
Rushes and MGFX Studio have collaborated again with titles and idents designer Mark1 for his new short film about knife crime in todays society.
After Effects is an uncompromising short film that deals with the effect a death caused by knife crime has on not only a family but also the surrounding community” explains Mark.“This film aims to challenge the audience to look at their own attitudes towards gun and knife crime and the cause and effect of this ever-increasing epidemic”
MGFX Studio was tasked with creating a title sequence that was as powerful and impactful as the content of the film. With Mark1’s guidance and reference, Lead animator Matt Lawrence began exploring how the desired effect could be achieved: “Mark had a very specific look and feel in mind and gave us good reference for it. The initial phase was simply trying out ideas to realise his concept. I always head straight to After Effects first to get my head round what is required. It became obvious pretty early on that plug-ins and digital effects were not going to be good enough!”
Having gone through some R&D in the initial phase Matt rested on a combination of digital effects, standardised plug-ins and real footage, It was then a case of building the elements.
“Once Matt had figured the best method to get the right effect we split the project into parts and went from there. The first thing to do was to build the alphabet. The technique Matt implemented required each letter to be precomp’d and type set as per the credits. It was a long process, but worth it to really keep the sequence fresh and make sure there were no repeats.” Says Brad Le Riche.
Once each credit list had been type set and laid out, the team needed to animate the type to give that degrading, shattering effect. Subtle animation touches like using the initial burst to collide with other letters provided a cohesive and more impactful end result.
“Mark was very pleased with the work the boys did on the titles, they captured the mood of the film perfectly but also didn’t give anything away. Mark was keen to use the opening sequence to get the audience settled and focussed on the screen before the film started. White on black is striking in its own right, but the animation and sound that was subsequently laid underneath really grabs you from the get go. It is a powerful title sequence for a powerful film. The two complement each other excellently.”
Title: "After Effects"
Format: Short Film
Director: Mark One
Post: Rushes
Rushes Producer: Anthony McCaffery
Title Designer: Mark One
After Effects: Matt Lawrence, Brad Le Riche
Format: Short Film
Director: Mark One
Post: Rushes
Rushes Producer: Anthony McCaffery
Title Designer: Mark One
After Effects: Matt Lawrence, Brad Le Riche