A52 Masters Fate in New Main Title Sequence for HBO's Carnivàle
Tito A. Belgrave, Friday, 12 September 2003

HBO's dramatic new series Carnivàle is set to debut on Sept. 14, and the opening titles that will open each episode embody some of the most powerful visual magic the artisans of Clio-winning Los Angeles visual effects and design company A52 have ever conjured.

Early this year, the strength of the company's reel afforded A52 a chance to pitch their ideas on the series' titles to a group of executives that included Carnivàle co-producer and post-production producer Todd London. For that meeting, after being briefed on the objectives of relating time period, history and selling the Carnivale, project creative director Angus Wall, executive producer Darcy Leslie Parsons, senior producer Scott Boyajan, Inferno artist Patrick Murphy and designer Vonetta Taylor presented their pitch on behalf of A52.

"Basically, A52 took our concepts, added their own and brought the ideas to life," explained Todd London. "In the end, we thought their pitch was the most creative and felt it was right for the show."

"We're very proud to have expanded our design department this year in support of this project," commented Darcy Leslie Parsons. "We're thrilled with the Carnivàle main titles and feel they reflect our artists' intense creativity and passion for their work."

The Concept
Describing the team's approach, Boyajan said, "Our goal was to create a title sequence that grounded viewers in the mid 1930s, but that also allowed people to feel a larger presence of good and evil over all of time."

Boyajan then went on to describe the unprecedented scale of A52's effort, uniting 3D, design, visual effects and finishing efforts that crescendoed in a piece that has drawn this praise from HBO executive vice president of original programming Carolyn Strauss: "What's clear from the screen is that A52 did a magnificent job. What's unseen is what a pleasure they were to work with."

The sequence itself begins with a deck of Tarot cards falling into the sand. The camera moves in on the "The World" card illustrated with a world-famous work of art. The camera delves into the picture, finding footage from several iconic moments in history, then moves back out of a different card ("Ace of Swords"). Repeating this approach in using Tarot themes and renowned artwork, scenes from some of history's greatest triumphs and challenges are presented. At the end, the wind blows away the last two cards ("Moon" and "Sun") to reveal the Carnivàle title artwork.

Here's how the :90 high-definition piece came together at A52 at the hands of Angus Wall, visual effects supervisors and Inferno artists Simon Brewster and Patrick Murphy, Vonetta Taylor, Scott Boyajan and A52's in-house CGI team.

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