CD Aaron Becker and the motion crew at Filmograph in Los Angeles (whose titles for The Beekeeper we featured in Stash 164) layer up a menacing atmosphere for the HBO series The Penguin.

Aaron Becker: “Working with HBO, showrunner Lauren LeFranc, and director/EP Matt Reeves, we had the special opportunity to craft the titles for a series about one of Gotham’s most notorious villains. Using a mixed media approach, our gritty, paint-lacquered compositions create an abstract homage to the show’s noir setting.
 

“Together, we coaxed the visuals in a more nuanced direction where the exact beginning and end of images isn’t entirely clear.”

 
“The project began with an extensive pitch presentation containing multiple main title design treatments. Subsequent rounds were developed in close collaboration with the filmmakers who helped us stay grounded but not overly literal in our execution.

“Together, we coaxed the visuals in a more nuanced direction where the exact beginning and end of images isn’t entirely clear, where painterly shadows and silhouettes are collaged with newsprint, rain, and streaking ink, as shots bleed from one scene to the next.

“One of the biggest challenges was a condensed timeline and the need to move rapidly with iterations while maintaining a high quality of design and animation.

“Additionally, each episode’s main on end sequence changes in very subtle ways, so the need to evolve and craft custom Easter eggs throughout the season became a very important goal that had to be prioritized alongside the overall craftsmanship we were trying to bring to the piece.”
 
 

 
Client: HBO
Showrunner: Lauren LeFranc
Director/EP: Matt Reeves

Production: Filmograph
CD: Aaron Becker
EP: Seth Kleinberg
Producer: Troy Miller
Designer/animator: Joseph Ahn, Hsien Lun Su, Michael Lo, Alasdair Willson, Ben Hurand

Music: FLOOR CRY “Happy Together”

Special thanks: Bryan Carroll, Jonathan Ferrantelli, Matt Reeves