ABOUT

The filmmakers invited us to pitch ideas for the main-on-end title sequence. “Werewolf by Night” is stylized to look and feel like a classic horror film from the 1930s or 40s. From the production design to the lighting, the lensing and even the acting, everything has this very timeless and authentic feeling. To stay consistent with this visual language, we focused on solutions that could have been produced during that time period, without cg as a recourse.

We knew this needed to be dark, mysterious, somewhat sinister and we also wanted to play up the vintage look and embrace the imperfections of something made by hand.

The paper solution allowed us to play with light and shadow in fascinating ways that felt very much of that time.

Since the sequence takes place at the end of the film, we could use some of our favorite moments from the film to create a narrative that celebrates what we just watched. The illustrated vignettes are either directly inspired by scenes from the film or events that we imagined based on the story.

For the opening sequence, we needed to establish the universe in which the story takes place – to show the audience how and why we ended up where we are when the action begins.

We created a series of illustrations that visually represented the story being narrated. Our talented illustrator nailed a style that feels like it could belong behind a glass case in a museum. The intricate sketches are inspired by old etchings and scientific studies which bring that authenticity we were looking for.

These illustrations were brought into After Effects where we animated a virtual camera, timed out to a reference edit, showing different details that tell the story visually. Ultimately, the illustration fades into the live action using the waxing gibbous moon as a connecting element.