Marvel Studios
Black Widow Title Sequence
For the film Black Widow, Marvel Studios and Director Cate Shortland wanted to use the title sequence to tell some of the shadowy backstory of Natasha Romanoff and the Russian Black Widow program. I spent time on set with a crew capturing bespoke content for the titles while they were filming the movie. This sequence was a multi-headed dragon but it was a ton of fun to produce and I think it stands apart in the MCU!
Year
2020
Client
Marvel Studios
Filming the Titles
In our initial discussions with Marvel and Cate Shortland it was clear that this title sequence would be a different species. Marvel Studios movies typically end with the titles and they are a celebration of the film you’ve just seen and the world they created. Black Widow delves deep into Natasha Romanoff and how her past has built her into the superhero she has become and Cate recognized that that background was intentionally murky within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She wanted to use the title sequence in the beginning of the film as a storytelling device to close the gap between seeing Natasha as a child and meeting her back in her present day. In order to tell this story, we needed to capture authentic footage of the characters and the world Cate and team were building.
I put together a small crew to direct and film content on set alongside the principal photography team. Our goal was to be self-sufficient in capturing the narrative materials we needed in between the lines of the main cinematography crew. A “black ops” team of our own.
In the end, as the producer I was able to manage the pre-production conversations with the director and Marvel Studios production managers who allowed us to integrate ourselves into their very hectic and finely choreographed production schedule. I then produced and helped direct the on-set capture of our narrative title sequence materials working with the incredible cast, producers, and film director.
Once we had our footage, I also built the team and schedule for our post-production editorial and animation phase making the title sequence come to life. In addition to managing the client communication and our team, I also sourced much of the stock footage used in the sequence because I had such an intimate understanding of the story we were telling and what sort of imagery would best support that narrative.
In the end, we produced a beautifully haunting sequence that delves into the dark underbelly of the main villain, General Dreykov, and how the black widow program exploits young girls to influence and destabilize global relations. As a bonus, it is all set to a stirring cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Studio: Perception
Chief Creative: John LePore
Head of Operations: Kris Barone
Senior Producer: Eric Daly
Art Directors: Doug Appleton, Ryan Close
Associate Producer: Peyton Goldfarb
Artists: Seiji Anderson, Ran Huo, Vlad Lysenco, Artem Otvodenkov, Alex Rupert, Chris Szeto, Isaac Taracks, David Weinstock
Editorial: Jake Benjamin, Courtney Lewis
Cinematography: Peter Gagnon, Mikko Timonen
"I love the work you are doing. I think the sequence works on two levels."
— Cate Shortland, Director of Black Widow
