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2015 One Show - Design

Title Sequence

Agency Netflix/The Weinstein Group / Los Angeles

Client Marco Polo
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Annual ID

150810A

About the Work

Mill+ co-directors Ben Smith and Bryce Wymer teamed up with Netflix to create the stunning title sequence for Marco Polo. Ben decided on the concept of traditional Chinese painting, using the ink to tell the story because of its mercurial, expanding nature, and how it metaphorically mirrors Marco’s journey and Kublia’s expanding empire The team developed a technique to capture the images being ‘invisibly painted.’ By using an overhead projector, Bryce meticulously hand-painted the images onto a dense paper that allowed the water to sit on the surface. Sumi ink was dripped onto the invisible water paintings, spreading beautifully throughout. This was captured through high-speed photography to create an elegant image, confined to the waters edges. The result is a sequence that contains a duality of visuals; the ink paintings include subtle imagery that in turn invite the audience to feel Marco Polo’s influence.