Nominated at the 2023 Emmys for their groundbreaking The Rings of Power main titles, Katrina Crawford and Mark Bashore at Seattle’s Plains of Yonder double-down on their cymatic-based visuals for season two.

Katrina Crawford and Mark Bashore: “We were asked to evolve our title concept from season one to fit the themes and story lines for season two, expanding from the eruption of the volcano at the end of last season to include the birth of 19 rings, and the rise of Sauron. It’s a darker season, with more sinister and corruptive themes.

“Our inspiration for the lexicon of the main titles come from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ainur, immortal angelic beings, that sing such beautiful music that the world is created from their very sound. This lead us to the scientific phenomenon of cymatics, sound waves visualized which is integral to the titles across all seasons of the show.

“The challenge comes in balancing the authentic scientific cymatic forms with iconography and forms that tell a story. Real cymatics are extremely geometric and a bit wild. How can we form sigils, forges, constellations, trees, and more while staying somewhat true to nature and science?
 

“The power of the shots is not just what you are looking at but how it is moving. There is a mood and a tone to the motion – it’s that deadly combination that means everything to us.”

 
“As with season one, we are mixing CG particle work with live action cymatic sand motion. The compositing is intricate and completely unique to every single shot – a real labor of love; complex and requiring minute attention to detail.

“The first shot was one of the hardest; a close-up of a tendril of lava. We stared at a lot of lava footage and noticed a phenomena where the outer layer moves differently than the inner liquid layer because it’s cooling. It doesn’t run like water or even liquid, it tumbles.

“Our amazing team experimented tirelessly and finally landed on a system we named ‘tank tracks’, whereby the outer particles act like the tracks on a tank and move from top and fold underneath. We also added a level of glow and heat to convey temperature.

“These lava/molten metal shots also have a distinct insidious motion that is a new creation for this season. The power of the shots is not just what you are looking at but how it is moving. There is a mood and a tone to the motion – it’s that deadly combination that means everything to us.

“We wanted the audience to feel the creep of something corrosive, but also seductive. Designing the lava flow or the curling in the ring creation, the way it flows so that it feels like it cannot be stopped, was the tricky holy grail.”
 
 

 
Client: Amazon

Production: Plains Of Yonder
Director: Katrina Crawford, Mark Bashore
EP: Paul Williamson
Art Director: Katrina Crawford, Fernando Domínguez Cózar
Animation Director: Fernando Domínguez Cózar
3D Animation Lead: Mauro Gimferrer
Live Action Director: Katrina Crawford, Fernando Domínguez Cózar
Editor: Mark Bashore
Typography/Animation: Jason Esser
Original Cymatics Concept: Anthony Vitagliano
Calligrapher: Daniel Reeve

3D VFX: MakMac
3D Art Director, Lead 3D Artist: Mauro Gimferrer
3D Artist: Marcos Coral, J.A Duran

VFX/Compositing: El Ranchito
VFX Supervisor: Angel Rico Riesgo
VFX Producer: Deneb Sabater
VFX Production Coordinator: Rubén Bustos Aguado
Lead Compositing Artist: Chiara Ferian
Compositing Artist: Santi Martos, Guillermo Ramos González, David Ramírez
Head of VFX Editorial: Aníbal del Busto
VFX Editor: Carlos G. Cardoso, Jerome Juan
Color Grading: Adriana Solé

Color Grading: Company 3

Music: Howard Shore