The Mill+: Marco Polo Title Sequence

Whilst thinking about mixed media and unusual media within  animation, I started to think about animations that I have seen that have stood out to me and made an impression. I'm not great at recalling things like this off the top of my head and I usually have to look back at lists and things before I can find anything relevant, however, this time I instantly thought of the opening title sequence for Netflix's Marco Polo and I wanted to learn more about how it was made because I feel that it is something I would love to attempt myself at some stage.

I found that it was created by a team working for The Mill+, an extension of the The Mill, which is a studio that creates a variety of visual narratives. The sequence was made using sumi-ink and a thick paper stock that allowed water to sit on the surface. Using droppers, the team placed the ink onto the pre-drawn water paths, which spread beautifully. This was captured with high speed photography, and as the ink spread relatively quickly, they used higher frames rates, so they could control the speed later in post-production. The majority of the ink was shot in-camera and a 2D compositing team added in the wider shots seen within the sequence.

The overall effect resulted in a very beautiful and unique animation that isn't very common to see. Although I want to give something like this a try,  the process seems very technical and a lot has gone into making the sequence and it isn't as straight forward as it appears. However, it is still something that I would like to give a go in the future, even if it isn't as advanced as this.