KYLE COOPER IS A DIRECTOR AND DESIGNER OF FILM TITLE SEQUENCES.

Kyle Cooper

About him

He holds an MFA in graphic design from the Yale School of Art, where he studied under graphic designer Paul Rand, as well as a BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1996, he co-founded and named creative agency Imaginary Forces. He has directed and produced more than 150 film title and VFX sequences, including Se7en, Spider-Man, and The Mummy. In 2001, he directed a feature film, New Port South.

He moved on to found Prologue Films in 2003, with which he has created title sequences for The Incredible Hulk, Final Destination 5, and The Walking Dead. In 2008, he was a finalist in the National Design Awards. He has earned five Emmy Award nominations and one win for his work on the 81st Annual Academy Awards. He also holds the title of Honorary Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts in London.

Some of Cooper’s works

Films above: American Horror Story: Freakshow, Se7en, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, Dawn of the Dead and Godzilla.

Se7en

The handwritten typography and title is conventional in Cooper’s style because Cooper tends to put an emphasis on the fonts, when creating a title sequence, to create an atmosphere and to intrigue the audience. In an interview, Cooper stated that ‘The idea that that it is a handwritten font in Se7en, is because the guy is a serial killer and is keeping those journals.’

Cooper is also interested in anatomical images and videos as well as micro features of the body such as body cells, teeth, and etc. Cooper mainly uses close ups and extreme close ups with his work and this creates narrative enigma and makes the audience question because the close ups are limiting the audience to how much they actually see. His cuts are typically rapid and flashy because the sudden change of pace of editing adds to the uncomfortable atmosphere and helps build suspense easily. The images do not stay on the screen for longer than five seconds either and the grainy effect disorientates the environment more.

The soundtrack for the title sequence is a song by the Nine Inch Nails, called Closer and the title sequence only plays one part of the song, by the end, which says ‘You bring me closer to God’. This links in with what the film is based on, that is the seven sins.

Dawn of the Dead

For the title sequence for ‘Dawn of the Dead’ Cooper yet again puts an emphasis on the typography, for this sequence the font is red and is animated; as it moves across the screen like veins.

The soundtrack at the beginning is of a heart beat and a heart monitor gone dead, this creates narrative enigma as the monitor can not be dead if there’s a heart beat. The soundtrack fades into the background as the dialogue becomes more prominent, asking questions such as “Are these people alive or dead?’ which gives the audience a better idea of the narrative.

The sequence continues in to a montage of achieve/found footage of the outbreak and news reports with anatomical images of cells, which is typical of Cooper as he is interested in anatomical images and uses montages to create an atmosphere and establish the genre. Although it establishes the genre the audience does not meet the protagonist, which is conventional for Cooper as he involves the audience in the world before meeting the main cast.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Cooper’s work is strongly, but creatively, based on his interests. Despite this, Cooper has been able to make it work for all of the films he has been involved in so far. Most of his work has a scientific yet eerie element to it which he is well known for and Cooper is also popular for his thoughtful detail in his work. For example, in Dawn of the Dead’s title sequence Cooper even went to the extent of using real human blood, which makes the film feel more real.