Creative studio harnesses stock and ripped footage, AI elements, and rough Photoshop comps to create a powerful tone, luring viewers into HBO Max’s 3-part docuseries; the series unravels accusations of fraud, deception, and murder chronicling South Carolina’s Murdaugh family legacy and century-long influence over its legal system.
Creative studio Spillt was recently enlisted by HBO Max and Campfire Studios to produce the main titles for Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, a three-part docuseries that chronicles the legacy of the Murdaugh family, whose century-long, powerful influence over the legal system in South Carolina’s Lowcountry unravels amid accusations of fraud, deception, and murder.
In collaborating with Campfire Studios, Spillt needed to strike a powerful enough tone to lure viewers into the story, getting them to ask the right questions and keeping them guessing without relying on key plot elements. Thematically, this tone had to combine an authentic southern locale with the ideas of rotting decay and generational wealth.
“We challenged each other to bring as much depth of thought to this project as we all pushed our technical and creative chops,” noted Spillt Senior Creative Director Ryan Summers. “Everyone tossed creative ideas full of references, writing, textures, and tones into one big pile, which - as a team - we debated to determine what could be shaped into unique concepts, and everyone went off on their own to craft their take on a possible narrative.”
Spillt combined brainstorming in Milanote, AI tools (DALL-E and Midjourney) and creative process, allowing for the progression of pacing without style frames. Instead, the studio edited stock footage, ripped footage, AI elements, and rough Photoshop comps to get the theme and pacing of the main titles locked before designing.
“When paired with a thorough description, this really helped in tonality by enabling us to design each shot based on the rough cut,” explained Ed Rhine, Spillt’s owner and Executive Creative Director. “But what’s particularly special to me is that every single person at Spillt contributed to the conceptual development and ideation, which is really the perfect example of our approach and mantra.”
Check out the titles:
In addition to the 30-second main titles, Spillt produced more than 100 pieces of custom in-show editorial content for the show.
Source: Spillt
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
