Method Studios’ New York team recently designed the intricate opening titles for “El Chapo,” a new series from Univision and Netflix that retells the story of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. The sequence elegantly explores several key themes of the show, including the disparity between El Chapo’s private persona and myths portrayed in the media.
Method’s team, led by creative director John Likens and lead designer Arisu Kashiwagi, outlined story beats for the sequence, then Univision provided a wide range of archival material from both print and TV news coverage of El Chapo’s activities. They then worked to develop a look and style to illustrate the idea of El Chapo having multiple facets to his private and public personas, animating different media clips layered on top of one another that tear away to reveal new clues underneath. Overall, the 90-second sequence challenges viewers to uncover El Chapo’s true self.
“El Chapo became a larger than life persona in part due to media coverage, and we wanted to explore how he gained that level of notoriety. We were able to play around with silhouettes of the actors and a wealth of news clippings to visually navigate these questions and establish interesting juxtapositions,” said Likens.
“El Chapo” premieres on April 23 on Univision in the U.S., and will then be available worldwide on Netflix.
Credits:
Main Title Design: Method Studios
Creative Director: John Likens
Lead Designer: Arisu Kashiwagi
Producers: Emily Schaeberle & Adrienne Mitchell
Animators: Nan Wei, Vivian Kim, Keri Moller, Damien Cho
Coordinator: Beata Calinska
Series Credits:
Series Producer: Daniel Posada
Vice President of Story House Entertainment: Christian Gabela
President & Chief Content Officer of Fusion Media Group: Camila Jimenez Villa
Series Showrunner: Silvana Aguirre
Post Production by : Bad Idea
Associate Producer: Jason Tamasco
Post Producer: Jerry Mecca Careccio
Category: Crafted, Gritty, Motion Graphics, Titles