PRESENTATION OUTLINE
how patrick clair won the emmy for 90 seconds worth of work.
LA-based Australian Patrick Clair won the 2014 Emmy for that haunting title sequence of the brilliant True Detective. The 90-second sequence is visually arresting and complex, featuring double exposures, dissolves, industrial landscapes and superimposed, manipulated shots of the faces of Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, who play the burned-out Louisiana detectives making one last and desperate bid for salvation.
Clair himself believes that
"the most iconic and memorable sequences begin with a simple idea, a singular strong concept that evokes the characters, the tone, the world and the story through focused and striking visuals"
The title sequences that have stood the test of time have one simple but meaningful idea at their core.
Clair is referring in many ways to the eye catching and memorable tittle sequences of Mad Men and Dexter which a demonstration of a creative resurgence in design that has recently blossomed on our tv screens in the past few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85_pl_2Ugjs
For the show that pulses to the mood of Madison Avenue circa 1960, it's fitting that Mad Men's Emmy-winning credit sequence would be reminiscent of Saul Bass's remarkable work on films such as Hitchcock's North By Northwest and Vertigo. The sequence shows the black-and-white silhouette of a businessman arriving at his office, which then implodes, dispatching him through a canyon of skyscrapers lined with advertising images.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0M35pHkUoY
As you Dexter undertake his morning routine, we are treated to seemingly disparate images: a razor blade slicing through Dexter's stubble; a cooking knife dissecting raw meat; an egg splattering on a frypan; blood dripping into a basin; a mosquito obliterated mid-meal... The effect is visceral and queasy, macabre and hilarious, repellent yet alluring, much like the dark hero of the piece.
This idea that functional "title cards" could be a two or three-minute sequence of art originates in 1950s cinema when Saul Bass created dynamic, eye-candy sequences for directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger. Later would come Maurice Binder with his outrageously colourful, inventive and risque sequences for James Bond films and Barbarella.
Though there were a few notable exceptions, for example the psychedelic and still-evolving Doctor Who credits, it was not until the late 1990s that producers and broadcasters began to rethink title design in TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZK7mJoPLY
In part it was driven by technology and the ready access designers had to digital tools, as well as the notice that designer Kyle Cooper had attracted for the hair-raising sequence for the movie Se7en, most of which was shot on Super-8 in a cupboard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c3VVJb562Y
Kyle Cooper again shows his creative genius in the 60 second sequence forAmerican Horror Story's first seasons opening credits.
The sequence taps into a collective nightmare of subliminal horror. It's violent, confronting, unsettling and raw, and leaves viewers in no doubt of what lies ahead.
The field of title design is quickly flourishing with the likes of Kyle Cooper, Patrick Clair, Chip Houghton and Peter Frankfurt all award winning designers whom have risen and are rising to fame with work between them that will stay in the history of tv forever.
