Brickyard VFX Creates Opening Titles for <em>The Brass Teapot</em>

Santa Monica, CA – Brickyard VFX [1] designed and animated the opening title sequence for The Brass Teapot, the debut feature film from award-winning commercial director Ramaa Mosley. Based on the popular short story by Tim Macy, the film premieres September 8th at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The Brass Teapot focuses on John and Alice (Michael Angarano and Juno Temple), married twentysomethings who are struggling to make ends meet – until Alice stumbles upon a mysterious teapot that could be the answer to their financial woes. A contemporary fable about temptation, this magical dark comedy reminds viewers to be careful what they wish for.

Ramaa envisioned the opening titles as a collection of pages from books and transcripts spanning various eras and cultures, with images on each page hinting at the vast history and mythology of the teapot. Brickyard sequenced select imagery, added parchment-style textures to give a sense of antiquity, and then designed dimensional camera moves to create depth and fluid transitions from page to page. Brickyard also crafted a particle animation reveal using an Aramaic-style font for the cast and production credits, adding another element of primordial magic.

“The challenge with this idea was twofold: first, being able to convey a mythology and a sense that this teapot has been influencing history for thousands of years, and second, to work with the 2D stock images and make them really engaging to the audience,” said Jeff Blodgett, Executive Producer at Brickyard VFX. “Ramaa is such a passionate filmmaker, and her enthusiasm is contagious. It was really great to be part of that process and collaborate on the opening of such a magical film.”

Brickyard also animated several visual effects shots for the film in scenes that could not be captured practically. Those shots included creating and animating a photo-real CG replica of the brass teapot, as well as sequences with animated dollar bills that shoot out of the enchanted pot.

“Brickyard was phenomenal,” said director Ramaa Mosley. “Through every stage of the process they were extremely collaborative, enthusiastic, thorough, detail-oriented, and just truly lovely to work with. I couldn’t have finished this film without them.”

For more info on The Brass Teapot, please visit: http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2012/brassteapot [2]

Source: Brickyard VFX