'The Walking Dead' [fan] titles

Update: these were fan-made titles. See the actual one done by Prologue Films (Henry Hobson, dreative director) in 'The Walking Dead' official credits are more tense, less comic-y than the fan-made ones.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Art of the Title Sequence chats with animator Daniel Kanemoto [on Vimeo] on the titles for a new AMC series (premiering tonight) in The Walking Dead – unofficial:

'Because I was working with static 2D artwork, I used various lightning effects to add depth to each scene. I created various mattes within After Effects to create a "Kodalith"-style glow to my light sources, which backlit most of my foreground elements. I also sandwiched layers of semi-transparent "mist" (usually just a white gradient) in-between every layer to help with the illusion of depth.After Effect project screenshot.

In addition to animating my 3D camera, I also created isolated effects to punctuate each shot. Blood spatter opens the sequence (these individual droplets started life as brushes in Photoshop, but were scaled up and retouched by hand for HD resolution), leaves drift across the screen, and there's a fly cameo. This buzzing insect was my homage to the clouds of flies that often surround the zombies in the comic, a horrible detail that always gives me the shivers.'

It's an unlikely topic for a cable channel known for Mad Men and Breaking Bad, but we're primed after recent views of the Dead Set and The Crazies (bad acid aka BZ).

Note: "Zombie Virus" Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid? gives some background on the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies, which probably won't be an admiration of the Wade Davis school of Haitian zombies. Perhaps some Tea Party ethnobotany is in order, if Linnda Caporael and Mary Matosian are available.

Update: see also Film Riot Makes a Zombiemommy.