Abstract Title Sequence
Abstrosity
COMPANY
RCAD
ROLE
Designer, Animator, Creative Director, Sound Mixer
SOFTWARE
Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition
YEAR
2024
Credits
Sound Mixing, Animation, Design, Concept - Me
Sound - Pixabay
Music - Universal Studios Productions
Project Description
For my ATS project, I created an abstract film title sequence that told a story through color, motion, and sound. The 40–90 second film was made entirely with in-camera footage and diegetic sound, with no VFX. I focused on using at least ten strong compositions and smooth continuity to build emotion and connect the visuals to the theme. I also included sound design tests and a process deck showing how the project developed from concept to final look. The goal was to make something expressive, cohesive, and driven by abstraction.
Process
Research
The first part of this project was studying the 7 different story archetype structures our teacher provided and practicing with them to show our understanding with them. Once the story was approved, showing my understanding of the story archetype, I moved onto experimenting with film, enhancing the design to be something abstract yet appealing.
Design - Film and Sound
Once having the right concept for my title sequence, i needed the right song. I went to Universal Music Productions and searched up the emotion i wanted to evoke to find my music to edit and mix with. My search included mysterious, powerful, and exciting. Then once i found the right music, it was just connecting the beats to the film and further enhancing the film to make it more appealing! With the film added, i wanted to feel like the sound and film were both in the same world. I added little sound effects like bubbles, or splashing, or licking to mirror the movements going on in the film to further associate sight and sound. However i didn't want the sound to feel too distracting, so i made sure to lower the sound effects. If you listen closely, you can hear some of them through the music!
Typography Design
Finally, i wanted to add type for credits. But i didn't want it to look like an after thought. Because it wasn't. This was how i could change my cinematic piece into a title sequence worth looking at. I wanted something that felt futuristic and sci-fi inspired. So i went to my previous graphic design teacher to help look at different layout ideas. Playing with kerning, leading, sizing, and different fonts to help create a cohesive composition, merging type and film into the same realm.
Results
Once the concept process was over as well as the experimenting with film, sound, and type design, It was time to put everything together and create a finished abstract title sequence! something i spent most of my energy on this semester and ended with a product i was proud to call mine.
