"I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I'd been happy. Then I fired four more times at the motionless body..."
Inspired by the murder scene in Albert Camus' unique novel, in which the sun's light causes the main character to kill a man, The Stranger's titles are an exploration of abstract shadows and the meeting of light and dark.
I wanted this title to be an homage to classic cinema and carry with it many aspects of the film noir genre. As such, the effects of cast shadows and high contrast lighting - and their associated German Expressionist symbolism of a character's moral duality - seemed to be the perfect conceptual and visual approach to portray Meursault's life and character.
Credits and Features:
Direction, Design, Animation - Steve Biggert
Sound Design and Composer - Kelly Warner
Finalist - ADC Young Ones (Title Sequence)
Process:
In order to execute the concept and maintain a time period visually, it was essential to create a look that had a sense of classic tangibility to it. I looked at a lot of print work, especially screen printing, and the effects of vintage filmmaking.
Storyboards from the initial pitch process. From the very beginning the simplicity of light vs dark became a clear visual, and thus it was important that the treatment and animation worked to drive a powerful concept without over doing things.
Shadows were created in Cinema 4D, before being rendered in Octane and composited in After Effects.
