Blackbird Films

Context

Animate a compelling logo sequence for the award-winning independent production company Blackbird Films.

Strategy

Compose a simple visual story inspired by the Wallace Stevens poem ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’ using an array of both digital and analogue techniques.

Solution

An organic, visually-stunning opener generates intrigue for the company in critically-acclaimed films like “The Ticket” (2016) and “Swiss Army Man” (2016).

Visual Narrative

How do you create a film production title card that truly stands out?

Building off the aesthetic of their logo lock-up, Blackbird Films asked us to tell a simple visual story inspired by the Wallace Stevens’ poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird:

IV
A man and a woman / Are one. / A man and a woman and a blackbird / Are one.

Behind the Scenes

We seamlessly blended hand-painted animation with CGI modeling.

The final composition is organic, fluid, and more complex than it appears. 3D models of birds in flight were modeled and animated in CG, then painted over frame-by-frame using a combination of digital brushes, watercolors, and Japanese sumi ink.