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<\/a><\/p>\nAccording to Playdead co-founder Jonny Harris, the initial brief from client Open Mike Productions was to create titles and graphics that reflected the stories behind the jokes that Bridges relates in the standup segments of the 6 x 1\/2 hour show.<\/p>\n
\u201cKevin was to be very prominent, the main focal point,\u201d recalls Harris. \u201cAs well as the opening titles, which would introduce each of the programmes, the linking graphics within the programmes had to somehow “map” out the content and provide transitions in between sections, without being too obvious, and steering clear of a more traditional “map” design.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the main inspirations for how the graphics style would evolve was the opening sequence for “Stranger Than Fiction” [ by MK12, view here<\/a>]. \u201cWe’ve always loved the way that the graphics are integrated with the live action, don’t feel too obtrusive and interact with the character,\u201d reveals Kevin McCrae, PlayDead\u2019s other founding creative. \u201cWe felt that we could take this treatment as a starting point and evolve it into its own concept, relevant to the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n McCrae continues: \u201cAs lots of Kevin’s material is observations and comments on the world around him, we developed the concept of Kevin walking around a city, collecting thoughts and ideas as he does so. Eventually, we decided that the simplest and clearest way to do this would be to use floating text, representing the content of his stand up material. This had to feel as if it was part of Kevin, so we also used thin white graphical lines to attach the text to his body. We thought that the graphics could link in neatly with his voiceover, animating in certain keywords as he says them, helping to integrate them into the programme footage.\u201d<\/p>\n PlayDead viewed an early rough cut of the series, giving Harris and McCrae an indication of style and tone for the programme. \u201cFrom this, we saw that it was really beautifully shot and quite filmic, using tilt shift and fish eye lenses in places, so we designed the graphics style to complement this,\u201d explains Harris. \u201cWe were able to test and develop the concept and idea using some footage that had already been shot. Then, once this was locked down, some more specific footage was shot with the graphics treatment in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Adobe After Effects was used to create and animate all the graphics. \u201cDue to the tight production time-scales, the graphics had to be easily adjusted if necessary and rendered out fairly quickly, so we chose not to use any 3D elements,\u201d says McCrae. \u201cWe also felt that any “chunky” 3D elements could look out of place and wanted to keep the graphics elegant and light.\u201d<\/p>\n McCrae and Harris were both heavily involved in compositing the graphics, splitting up the workload between them. One of the main challenges was to keep the project files as neat as possible and in order, whilst passing them to and fro.<\/p>\n \u201cFor each programme, there was a bespoke title sequence, around 5 transitions and also the animating text to introduce guests, so this meant lots and lots of different compositions,\u201d says McCrae. \u201cAs we progressed into the production and learnt ourselves, we streamlined the production process, so that certain tasks would be done by each person, and then brought together into a final After Effects project file.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the end graphics look clean and simple, there was a lot of manual work behind the scenes to make sure they worked and felt like they belonged in the environment. One of the main tasks was to track Kevin Bridges in all the shots, so that the text and splines would move with his body.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Harris continues: \u201cThe video footage then had\u00a0to be cut out, masked and split into several layers, so that some of the text appears to move behind him, and also so that it would disappear if any objects or people moved in front of him. This all helps to create the illusion that the text is floating in the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the shots were particularly difficult to track, because of their angle and also because of low lighting, meaning that the track points would sometimes disappear in places. The masking of the footage was another challenge, due to the amount of time and key framing involved.\u00a0\u00a0“The only way to really sort out the tracking, while being a lengthy process, was to manually key frame certain sections, frame by frame,” explains Harris. “It was a case of using a combination of the naked idea and the computer tracking to achieve the best results.”<\/p>\n In a similar fashion, the masking of the footage was\u00a0also performed manually. Another challenge was that in certain shots, Bridges walks past windows and reflective surfaces, meaning that PlayDead had to make sure that reflections and shadows were added where necessary. \u201c\u00a0We used a variety of different blending modes and multiple pre-comps over pre-comps: cutting them up and shifting them around in 3D space, so that they looked natural and part of the environment, \u201c says McCrae. \u201cWhen this is done correctly, you don\u2019t notice they\u2019re there. But if they were missing, our eyes would pick up on the fact that it\u2019s not quite right!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnother challenge was that Kevin recorded his final voiceover close to the graphics delivery date and online edit, so we had to make sure that we could swap out some words relatively quickly and efficiently if needed,\u201d says Harris. \u201cWe ensured that all the other elements of the After Effects compositions were in place and built, so all we had to do is change out small details.\u201d<\/p>\n The reactions to the work by PlayDead have been positive. \u201cThe style and the way that the graphics work is quite different, so it’s definitely sparked a few conversations and discussions,\u201d says Harris. \u201cThe fact that we did bespoke graphics for each programme, tying them into Kevin Bridges\u2019 voiceover, has really caught peoples’ eye.\u00a0We also discovered that it would be a nice little detail to make the name astons feel like they were a part of the environment and actually have the guests interact and knock the text in places \u2013 which has made people laugh. Usually name astons are overlaid in the online edit, so the fact we did them as a separate bespoke graphic really stood out.”<\/p>\n Adds McCrae: “What’s been most unusual for us is that people that we know outside of the broadcast industry have specifically commented on the graphics and how they liked them – even our local sandwich shop! Finally people understand what we do for a living!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u201cThere were around four to five graphical transitions for each programme,\u201d says Harris. \u201cWith each one having up to 3 different shots, meaning there could be up to 15 shots to track per programme. Once these were tracked, we had to lay in the text, and create the correct depth of field, using the camera within After Effects. The camera also had to be rotated, so it matched the movements of Kevin’s body and head.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n