MARCO POLO Show Titles (SHOT ON EPIC-MX)

[Adam Carboni]

I wanted to share this with the RED community and for any of you Marco Polo watchers out there.

I had the pleasure to shoot the new opening titles for NETFLIX's MARCO POLO, and it was on EPIC MX. We captured ink paintings at high frame rates, and about 95% of the sequence was achieved in-camera (many people have been asking if it was done in CG because of the way this ink effect looks). The "wet-into-wet" painting technique was really mesmerizing when we were testing/shooting, and going macro and HFR on this stuff was instantly breath-taking.

Most shots were shot 5K and 4K at 72, 96, and 120fps. The slider moves were achieved using a 4ft Original Slider and 5ft Kessler CineSlider. The final delivery was UHD, for NETFLIX's new 4K streaming. Co-Directors for the titles were Ben Smith and Bryce Wymer.

Here is a link to the main sequence on my site:
http://www.adamcarboni.com/#!marco-polo/c23sm
And here is The Mill's behind the scenes, which gives a glimpse into the process and the compositing work that took place with some of our elements.
https://vimeo.com/114565666

Enjoy!

-Adam

 

[Samir Patel]

Thats cool. I enjoyed the show while I binged it last week!

 

[Joe Pontecorvo]

I haven't seen the series yet, but the title sequence is breathtaking. Is the paper indented to hold the outline in liquid, I'm still puzzled as to how you held the forms so precisely with water before injecting the ink. And it looks like you experimented with different viscosities as well as metal materials and magnets? Maybe that's a trade secret stuff, but it's really impressive.

 

[Christian Schmitt]

Thanks for sharing! The show itself was shot on the F55 though, right?

 

[Adam Carboni]

Christian, yes the series was shot on F55. Some beautiful sequences in the show. Landscapes and costumes are A+.

Joe, the ink flows you see in the final piece were all achieved using a "wet into wet" technique, meaning it's literally sumi ink injected into water. The water will act as a boundary, causing the ink to surge through the water outlines. Each picture was painted in water, seconds before we would film (using a special water-filled soft tipped brush), then the artists would inject the black sumi ink into the water. On a thick paper with a skilled hand, the paintings held their shape surprising well. The timing was also critical, especially with the heat of our lights, because the water cannot be allowed to absorb too deeply into the paper.
The magnet test you see in the BTS is us dragging rare-earth magnets underneath a metallic-based ink. It is a neat technique but didn't render an organic look, like the wet-into-wet does. We tested many paper weights, ink types and base mediums (even Vodka!!) before ultimately going with the one described above.