STARZ
SEDUCED - INSIDE THE NXIVM CULT
SEDUCED - INSIDE THE NXIVM CULT
TECHNIQUE : 2D MOTION GRAPHICS , ANIMATION DIRECTOR : ELYSE KELLY , CLIENT : STARZ ,
AGENCY : NEON ZOO , MOTION GRAPHICS DESIGN : ALIXE LOBATO , YEAR : 2020
Overview
Seduced chronicles the abuse of India Oxenberg and her own responsibility inside the NXIVM cult, a business that poses as a self-help organisation. An intimate look at the mysterious and cunning creator of the Nxivm cult, Keith Raniere.
The Brief
In addition to interviews and 2D animated characters made by Neon Zoo, the US-based production company commissioned Alixe Lobato to create a number of motion graphics that would appear in the Starz documentary.
The Challenge
Our main challenge was deciding on a look that fit the narrative, complemented the existing video, and worked well with the hand-painted animations (produced by Neon Zoo).
It was the first time Alixe had worked with a US client using a completely remote approach and the difference in the time zone was something to take into consideration. It also happened to be during the early stages of the Covid 19 epidemic.
The Solution
Early on in the post-production process, Alixe, our Flying Duck founder, was brought in to create a number of mood-boards and graphic treatments for titles, bottom thirds, graphs, and phone user interfaces. The character animators and the US network (Neon Zoo/director/Starz) were two external teams with which we had to ensure that we were artistically in sync.
We adhered to a strict production schedule and picked up a lot of tips and tricks that helped us manage our completely remote workflow, we also tried to be as accessible as possible for the client and scheduled meetings ahead of time.
We kept a tight production schedule and we have learned quite a few tricks that helped us deal with a fully remote workflow.
The Process
We began with a condensed pre-production phase, during which we created a number of drawings and sketches. After the director and the client approved our artwork, we began creating the test animations, and as soon as they were also approved we started the production process. Neon Zoo was very helpful and had a very useful system to track down every single shot that we made.
The Technique
2D Motion Graphics
We explored different looks, experimenting with paper textures, newspaper cuts, video glitches and a very minimalist and elegant design. Using different external plugins to provide us with the different effects we were looking for.
Photo collage, newspaper clippings and animated titles
Hierarchy Tree
Video treatment and phone chat graphics on 2D Animation
Software
Adobe After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop.
Results
The Starz broadcast was a huge success, and the filmmaker was thrilled with the outcome.
Neon Zoo has recently commissioned us to collaborate with them once more on a project and it will be revealed very soon.
Our Credits
Design, 2D Motion Graphics: Alixe (Flying Duck Studio Lab)
