Design. Seeing it through to the end.

May 11, 2012 | admin

Design. Seeing it through to the end.

The finishing touches are so important to have a successful creation.

The proverbial “cherry on top.” If you’ve had the chance to make it to Marvel’s The Avengers you can see this principle in action. After two hours of great cinematized comic book action, good humor and off the charts CG work, the creators could have pulled the ol’ jump-to-black-and-roll-the-credits. Basically telling the audience that it’s over now, so beat it. Which could have been fine. I mean, the movie was great, so that’s good enough. Not in this case though. Marvel hired a great movie title agency, Method Design, to make sure faithful fans were enjoying every last second of the movie.

After given the task, Method Design creative director, Stephen Viola and his team set out to make an effectively memorable and impactful main-on-end title sequence to escort your imagination into the ho-hum credit roll. Viola says that the team went through over half a dozen concepts before landing on the final piece. Just a side note. This is a common occurrence that should happen if the best possible results are desired. That’s not to say that your first idea isn’t ever your best, but it’s good practice to explore a variety of ideas. For The Avengers in particular, they really wanted to take advantage of the chance to focus on the characters without… showing the characters.

Viola says,“They’re all very unique personalities and character traits and have unique powers. So it’s a story about group chemistry and how they are forced to work together. They wanted to really focus on that and the real stakes was a big theme for Joss.” (Quote courtesy of fxguide.com)

So the challenge began. How do you show a message, thought or feeling without showing the message thought or feeling? The answer? Very carefully. Well, in the case of The Avengers, Viola’s team focused on the character’s damaged shells of armor and battered extensions of weaponry. All of which show heavy scaring after long fought battles with the enemy, each other and their own personal struggles.

To do this, Method Design takes the viewer on a macroscopic journey over, under, through and around these beaten metallurgic appendages like a person would tour some cavernous canyon valley in a helicopter. Utilizing lighting, varying depths of field, different rates of camera motion and other tricks of the trade we get to see all the minute details of the battle damage these heroes endured. Carbon encrusted blast holes, broken chain mail, scuffed and dented alloys, chipped paint and torn clothes. All of this coupled with a commitment to great typography. Viola’s team developed a custom typeface to compliment the Avengers logo. But, they still wanted to be true to the typography used in actual comics from back in the day. To achieve this they took the classic Bank Gothic and gave it a heroic alter ego so it compliments the typography in the Avengers logo. As the camera pauses momentarily from one of it’s detailed expeditions, we see the type as it materializes into focus at some strategic point along an arm contour or in a gaping hole in armor. Always paced and positioned so appropriately.

It really is something you have to see to fully appreciate. The combination of detailed visuals, great camera rigging techniques, well thought out typography, and an underlying concept that successfully unifies them all into a great experience. Whether it’s motion graphics, oil painting, writing a novel or even baking a cake, when all the details are carefully considered and you strive for the best possible end product, it will almost undoubtedly pay off and you will have a great feeling of satisfaction. Especially when others can see and appreciate the effort along with the creator.

Watch the main-on-end sequence

The finishing touches are so important to have a successful creation.
The proverbial “cherry on top.” If you’ve had the chance to make it to Marvel’s The Avengers you can see this principle in action. After two hours of great cinematized comic book action, good humor and off the charts CG work, the creators could have pulled the ol’ jump-to-black-and-roll-the-credits. Basically telling the audience that it’s over now, so beat it. Which could have been fine. I mean, the movie was great, so that’s good enough. Not in this case though. Marvel hired a great movie title agency, Method Design, to make sure faithful fans were enjoying every last second of the movie.
After given the task, Method Design creative director, Stephen Viola and his team set out to make an effectively memorable and impactful main-on-end title sequence to escort your imagination into the ho-hum credit roll. Viola says that the team went through over half a dozen concepts before landing on the final piece. Just a side note. This is a common occurrence that should happen if the best possible results are desired. That’s not to say that your first idea isn’t ever your best, but it’s good practice to explore a variety of ideas. For The Avengers in particular, they really wanted to take advantage of the chance to focus on the characters without… showing the characters.
Viola says,“They’re all very unique personalities and character traits and have unique powers. So it’s a story about group chemistry and how they are forced to work together. They wanted to really focus on that and the real stakes was a big theme for Joss.” (Quote courtesy of fxguide.com)
So the challenge began. How do you show a message, thought or feeling without showing the message thought or feeling? The answer? Very carefully. Well, in the case of The Avengers, Viola’s team focused on the character’s damaged shells of armor and battered extensions of weaponry. All of which show heavy scaring after long fought battles with the enemy, each other and their own personal struggles.