I was thrilled to be invited by Hazel Baird of Elastic to design and direct the titles of the spin-off horror anthology, "American Horror Stories", episode 5: "Ba'al".

 

I am a long-time admirer of "American Horror Story", not only for its eerie story-telling and ingenious, lusciously dark cinematography, but equally for its various stand-out title sequences. And as somebody who has bathed in the horror genre since adolescence, an opportunity to lead on a horror opener is something I had been firmly crossing my fingers for.  

 

I was eager to bring my particular style, approach and ideas to bear. I was delighted when Ryan Murphy Productions selected the searing palette and style I proposed and I at once set about fleshing out a full storyboard embracing the creepy otherworldliness of the episode and the tone of the series as a whole.

 

It is quite rare that I animate these days and I relished the challenge of bringing my designs to life and establishing an off-kilter animation style. I began by bringing  motion and depth to the "sect" shot, followed by the attic which I always fancied as the opening shot. I used a combination of AE and C4D throughout. Rigging and adding spines and hair to the spider and the various projection mapping shots (doll face and cellar girl) allowed me to develop skills I have not used extensively. But probably my favourite shots to animate were the goat-headed demon (and billowing  curtains) and the lady sprouting wings and horns in her lonely woodland garret. I also enjoyed the challenge of finding a suitably creepy and unsettling technique of animation for the typography, including main logo card.

 

A big thanks to Rachel Fowler whose editing brings a wonderful escalating tension and unease, and to Bruno Ferrari and Daniel Moreno for their animation support. Thanks to Audrey Williart for her invaluable moral support on one of the toughest projects I've worked on, as well as playing hand model on the seance shots; also to Louise Miller for the kind use of her thrashing head on the asylum shot. 

 

I am grateful to Hazel Baird, Kate Berry and Elastic for allowing to spread my wings on this truly special project.

Studio: Elastic

Production Company: Ryan Murphy Productions

Distributor: FX on Hulu