Matthew Burniston created a poster and pre-title sequence for a production. He experimented with different lighting and color adjustments to improve the quality. For the title sequence, he was inspired by True Detective and used double exposure effects by layering footage and adjustment layers. It took 3 weeks to create the poster, pre-title sequence, and title sequence, experimenting with different compositions and effects like mirrors. He found inspiration from professional title sequences and examples.

1. Production Log
Matthew Burniston

2. Poster
Before actually making a start on
piece, I had the idea to make to
variant products out of this – a
poster as intended and a
thumbnail - a widened version of
the same artwork without the logo
– for things such as if it was put on
iPlayer, they often use thumbnails
on the video? So to start this idea, I
used a template cut out - two
black bars either side to inform
me where it'd be cropped.
A cheap trick I often find can help
trick the quality into looking higher
whilst also giving back a lot of the
texture lost with things like 'surface
blur' and 'reduce noise' is by
overlaying a solid layer of noise
above all the layers – so that it adds
noise to all the layers bellow it. When it came to cutting myself out of a
photo I took for this (or anything else in
photoshop,) I chose to use the 'polygonal
lasso tool,' to select around myself of the
object, to be taken into 'select and mask...'
- especially with things like hair, which I
often cut out separately – as with the hair
I use a high edge detection, which messes
with the lines...
Adjustments (Layer)
Brush opacity

3. Poster
When coming to tweaking my
poster after completing the
first rendition. I fixed a lot of
the problems it bared – such
as the brightness issue using
the 'brightness/contrast
adjustment (layer,) sometimes
using the mask to pin point
and focus light where it was
needed more – for example
the protagonist to make him
stand out more, as well as
glares from light sources – as
to bring up the contrast and
brightness in areas of the
piece, not mention making it
feel more grimy?
On top of this I included a lot
more colour to piece
(something which with time I
felt it was lacking a lot of.)
To do that I used layer
modes, – like overlay, in
accompany of either 'paint
bucket tool' or the 'brush tool'
- for either focused or general
applied light.
First Attempt Final Product
Also, when coming to adjustments, I wanted to fill up some of
the blank spaces (and somewhat cover up some advice some
pointed out that glares can often be a way to cover up
emptiness,) thus I fell the need to add more, so I added a
smashed glass effect, over the piece, to add to the
grimy aesthetic of the product – using the screen mode, I could
only keep the lighter areas (made easy with a lot of the
searched photos being white on black.)
Furthermore, I sharpened the
piece using the 'unsharpen
mask...` filter, giving that
sharpen look, whilst also
allowing me to work into the
shadows of the piece –
helping the image pop that
much more.
One of the other problems I
had with my piece is that you
could see the stars through
the background, so to get
around this, I went onto the
original layer and used the
'eraser tool' to cut out the
stars that shouldn't be there –
originally left to have the
interion of a cool starry effect
leak, but coming off just more
cheap and tacky...
Another quick lighting
adjustment I did was using the
pen tool (with a black colour)
and painting on the shadow,
to be completed with the
layer mode and often dabbing

4. Pre-Title Sequence
When trying to play about
with turning my footage into
night rather than day and
eventually settling on the
darker blue – dusk look that I
had.
To this, I played about with a
lot of effects placed into a
layer adjustment and later –
would mainly be composed
of things such as 'lumetri
colour' - to adjust a lot of the
colour and brightness,
'unsharpen mask' - to help
sharpen is as I had on the
poster' and 'crop' - to add a
tram line effect to the
product.
(Though I may have over
complicated this process, my
colour grade was borken
down into 3
adjusment layers..)
At the start of my product, I use frame wipe, the way I do this is
by using an animated mask – created using the 'pen tool' across
the areas I want to remove into the transition of the next frame,
which would be placed under the current footage.
To add the BBC water mark over my product I went online to
find a BBC logo and place it over all the footage and used the
'screen' layer mode to bring out the white over the footage, for
me then bring down the opacity down to make it look more
authentic next to actual BBC footage.
When editing this sequence together, I was trying to have the
pacing of cutting the shots getting faster – to show the rise in
tension as the piece went along. On top of this, I try and set up a
fake formula for the audience to follow – when it swithces
between the killer and the victim, before cuting one of the shots
of victim short with killer coming in – earlier than expected,
creating a jumpscare in conection with a lound and abrassive
sting.
Pen Tool
Animated Mask
What really helped me modify this
sequence's colour grade – after
the remains of the night affect
attempt was looking at examples
of proffessiaonal colour grades
such as one I looked at from a
Doctor Who episode.

5. The Title Sequence
With my title seuqnence, what
heavily inspired my title sequence
was the true detective one – using a
double exposure effect, an effect I
achieved by layering a lot of footage
and using various layer modes –
mainly 'lighten,' placing images into
the darker tones of images, whilst
also using things like 'screen' to place
only the highlights over the layers
below.
Whilst doing my title sequence, I'd
make everything monochromatic
(very rarley keeping what would've
be the original tone,) to later and in
some colour over/into the piece – in
which I'd later do with things like
'curves' adjustments.
To place text in (forgetting
the logo I'd previosly
created and saved in
Photoshop,) I used, using
the text tool – placing it
into the emptist places on
each cut to fill in the spaces
or state whole the
character show is being
played by.
To finish this all of, I'd later
be importing this into
premier and make it blend
in more with the rest of the
products – such as the tram
lines and BBC watermark.
To impliment a lot a lot buildings into my
product, I'd often play about with them in to
Photoshop to play about with the siloute into
my product – such as getting the right
highlights or shadows.
Whith the mirrored image going into to each
other, I got this affect from moving footage
and applying the 'mirror' adjustment at my
desired angle.
As whole, the title sequence took me three
weeks, with the first week bieng used for the
poster and pre-title sequence...

6. The Title Sequence
Here's a range of example breakdwown of the compostions and layers I used to build up this piece:

7. The Title Sequence
One of the tricks that made my titles
sequence as well as it did, was layering – going
into these three weeks of production with a
loads of ideas boucing around in my head,
whilst just experimenting and adding onto
differnet scenes till I got something that I was
satisfied with.
Often other things that would help motivate
my creaive process is looking back at
proffesional examples – like the true
detetective title seqeucne – drawing
insperation to the double exposure for my
title sequence, the Luther title sequence –
with the ink like effects which can be
assoiated with the blood effects, or another
one that was suggested, which was the title
sequence done for Bosh – inspiring one of the
background with the imploding mirror effect.
(On the right hand of the screen, I've left a
couple exmaples- some just being one
example of a few times and some just done
Imploding Mirror Effect
My Tilte Sequence Vs Points Of Insperation
Example Of Ink Effect
Example Of Double Expsoure