Cinemax’s new series Warrior transports viewers to 1800s San Francisco for a clash of cultures in Chinatown. Inspired by the writings of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, the series follows young martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm, a Chinese immigrant and hatchet man for one of the area’s most powerful Tongs. For the show’s opening title sequence, MethodMade created a nearly 90-second stylized piece of full CG content that channels overlapping explorations of cultural identity, hard boiled crime, and martial arts mastery.
Led by creative director John Likens, the MethodMade team worked closely with Warrior creator and executive producer Jonathan Tropper to narrow down a visual approach that would communicate the tone of the series. Tropper shared early footage from the pilot and scripts from subsequent episodes as reference. The MethodMade team collaborated with designer Arisu Kashiwagi, who ultimately developed a stylized aesthetic that featured key visuals from the show, martial arts movements, and notable locations, all within a minimal three-color palette. The dimensionalization of the characters and environments added depth and gave artists the ability to enhance the visuals with textures, brush stroke effects, and dynamic camera movements. To execute the designed visual approach, MethodMade used a combination of reference photography from San Francisco in that era, still photography from the set, and motion capture footage of martial artists in action. The sequence’s unique style and custom logo was ultimately expanded into marketing materials and served as the basis for the show’s visual identity.
CreditsClient Cinemax/”Warrior” Creative/Production MethodMade John Likens, creative director, design & animation; Arisu Kashiwagi, lead designer, art director; Wesley Ebelhar, art director, design & animation; Nan Wei, design & animation; Jeongyeon Son, David Derwin, CG artists; Adrienne Mitchell, executive producer; Emily Schaeberle, producer; Billy McMillen, coordinator. Music Reza Safina, H. Scott Salinas.
FOUR PAWS Teams With Catsnake, Animation Studio Bewilder To “Be Their Voice”
Global animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has launched the “Be Their Voice” campaign. Partnering with specialist creative agency Catsnake and South African production and animation company Bewilder, the campaign sheds light on a cruel practice called live lamb cutting. The film aims to raise awareness and inspire international action, urging fashion brands and policymakers to ban this inhumane practice by 2030.
The stop-motion “Be Their Voice” film follows a PhD student, Jesse, as he tries to perfect his sheep translation software with the help of a young sheep called Sunny. The initially heartwarming story takes an unsettling turn as Sunny discovers what is soon to happen to her on the farm.
Catsnake felt that the best way to capture the true horror of live lamb cutting was to focus on storytelling that would engage the audience emotionally. Catsnake creative director Rowena Wyles said, “A lot of animal rights campaigns rely on sharing shocking visuals of cruelty, but we know that tends to stop a wider audience from engaging with the issue. Instead, we wanted to draw people in with humor and heart before delivering the shocking truth of the practice.”
Working collaboratively with Bewilder, the film was brought to life with a mixed-media approach; recreating the look and feel of stop-motion with the flexibility of 3D animation. The sets, props and lighting were all made in Bewilder’s in-house studio, and the 3D characters were placed in afterwards.
Ruan Vermeulen, creative director at Bewilder, explained the process: “We built a ‘realistic’ miniature farm setting with stylized and lovable CGI characters. Combining a vast range of skill sets, with a multitalented creative team, our goal was to create an animation... Read More