Donnie Darko Title Design
Role: Design & Animation Year: 2018
A redesign of the main-on-end title sequence for Donnie Darko (2001), Richard Kelly’s cult classic about a troubled teenager haunted by visions of a man in a rabbit suit. Like the film, the sequence is meant to leave the audience with more questions than answers.
Concept
Time and reality are corrupted, and the world slips into an alternate universe of uncanny, inexplicable phenomena. Through Donnie’s eyes, the film questions a world of routine, unexamined lives and ignorance. I used glitching, physical processes and distorted pixels to make the sequence feel as warped, repetitive and illusory as our own reality.
Process
Over 64 days, 23 hours, 41 minutes and 6 seconds, I pushed glitches as far as they would go: databending in Hex Fiend and Adobe Audition, datamoshing in Avidemux, and displacement maps in After Effects. For each credit I picked a shot, distorted it until it evoked the concept, then reined it in so the scene stayed readable.
Glitch Experiments
Physical Effects
Some textures were shot for real: light refracted through glass for the streaks and wisps, and static from an analog TV for textures and transitions.
Frame Studies
Typography
However strange the visuals, the sequence still had to work as a professional end title. I started by analyzing the original sequence’s duration, credit timings and type ratios, then explored typefaces before animating the glitching letters in After Effects.
Original Sequence Specs
- Runs about 2 min 7 sec
- Crew credits hold 58–75 frames per person, up to 90 for multiple listings
- Cast credits hold 67 frames per person, 99 for multiple listings
- Crew and cast names are set at the same size
- Role-to-name type size ratio is 1:3.133
Type Animation
Credits
Design
Music
Special Thanks