Rushes & AP Design bring a Mondrian to life for Boogie Woogie.
 
If ever there was an artists paintings that were perfect for animating by a motion graphics artist then is would be a work by Mondrian. Perfect geometric lines and right angles, connected together by vibrant blocks of colour. The animation was broken down between myself in After Effects and Alan Williamson using Maya.
Working closely with Alan I planned the reveal of the lettering and animated the letters both writing on and writing off. Alan then match moved his extruded lines in Maya to my timings hitting the letters at the correct point to give the illusion of continuous movement. The room itself was rebuilt in 3D to give us more freedom with the camera move and to make the compositing job easier. The painting blocks themselves were also animated in After Effects and matched timed to the 3D lines. The final result is a very distinctive title sequence that fits the mood of the film perfectly.
 
Boogie Woogie story is a refreshing look at the art world, a subject which has her eto been dealt with in a clichéd and stilted way. Danny Huston is brilliant at the slippery but charming art dealer Art Spindle who delicately spins his collectors into buying and selling works or art. Christopher Lee is the cantankerous old man who refuses to sell his Boogie Woogie Mondrian while his wife Joana Lumley tries desperately to make him see sense. Gillian Anderson is particularly fabulous as the spoilt collectors wife who is having an affair with Jack Huston. Jamie Winston is an ambitious lesbian artist who is determined to make it at any cost including seducing Heather Graham to have a show in her gallery. Amanda Seyfried climbs the greasy pole of the art world in spectacular fashion. There is a particularly funny scene between Gillian Anderson and Charlotte Rampling inter cut with Stellan Skarsgard and his lawyer carving up the assets for their divorce.
 
The script is both horrific and funny. How art is manufactured, exhibited, dealt with and abused as well as worshiped could not be more on the money.
 
It is worth mentioning the art in the film which has been chosen by Damien Hirst. There are paintings by among others John Currin, Paul Fryer and Michael Craig Martin. This is a must for any art student wanting to know about how the art world works.
 
Title: "Boogie Woogie"
Product: Opening Title Sequence
Agency: Abraham Pants
Director: Duncan Ward
Producers: Katrine Boorman, Steve Daly
Laura De Casto, Matthew Hobbs, Danny Moynihan
Kami Naghdi, Meredith Ostrom
Leonid Rozhetskin, Christopher Simon
Chris Simon, Julia Stannard, Valentine Stockdale
Cat Villiers, Tom Wood
Designer: Matt Curtis
Post Facility: Rushes
Rushes Producer: Louise Hussey
Rushes Assistant Producer: Warwick Hewett
3D: Alan Williamson
Animator & Compositor: Matt Lawrence
Back to Top