Again, the Playgrounds Festival was a blast. Solid line-up, nice presentations and a good overall atmosphere.
This year, Playgrounds had not one but two title sequences. One was created by an upcoming talent, and the other was created by an already established studio.
Although totally different in style and concept, both titles played with the term “digital playground.” They were also both shot in the Netherlands.
OddOne
Directing duo OddOne (based in Eindhoven and Amsterdam) had fun with the process of title-making itself. They looked at their pipeline and the software they use and played with that. (The titles are at the top of this post.)
Audio production, After Effects, editing, color correction and compositing — all became subjects playfully situated in Dutch environments. For those environments, OddOne hiked through the Netherlands and shot beautiful time lapse footage (see the examples at the end of the post). Together with the help of 5 digital artists, they turned this into surreal landscapes with amusement park like attractions representing a stage in the actual workflow of making a title sequence.
The music was inspired by typical Dutch street barrel organs but skillfully modernized.
All in all, the sequence was a playfully cheery title that, for me, really represents the festival — and the fact that it’s in The Netherlands.
Bif / Mill+
For the “professional” titles, Mill+ directors Bif looked at the project from a totally different angle. Bif worked with the almost retro technique of pixel stretching and created a beautiful stylized experiment — miniature scenes that are torn apart like pulling a thread from a sweater alternated with circular graphical cards. A real digital playground.
Although it doesn’t look like it, all shots are fully CG created in Maya, with only photographs used for textures and the colors of the hairs.
Bonus: OddOne Timelapse footage
And as a bonus some beautiful unused time lapses footage from OddOne (who are currently looking for representation).
Credits
OddOne
Directed & produced : OddOne Directors Duo
Creative development : Gabriele Matiotti, Kerry Murphy, Peter van de Riet
Music & sound design : OddOne Audio – Berlin
3D Artists & Compositors : Johannes Matsson, Michiel Krop, Tim van der Wiel,
Gabriele Mariotti, Alan Zirpoli, Kerry Murphy
Pre-visualisation : Raphaël Bartels, Gabriele Mariotti, Peter van de Riet
2D Animation : Rob Wienk, Kerry Murphy
Graphic design : Peter van de Riet
Interns : Floris Kruger, Nick van de Steen, Joyce van Soelen
Special thanks : Leon van Rooij, Maarten Gulickx, BKKC, Circus Family, Will Judge
Bif
Design & Animation Studio : Mill+
Executive Director Mill+ : Stephen Venning
Head of CG Operations : Tom Walter
Director : Bif
Animators : Bif
Audio : Echolab