Imaginary Forces

Imaginary Forces creates whimsical end titles for fantasy adventure film "Nim's Island"

Hollywood, CA – (Date April 1st, 2008) – Entertainment and design studio Imaginary Forces (IF) recently completed the animated end titles for the Fox Walden fantasy adventure, "Nim's Island." The film stars Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler and premieres in theaters nationwide on April 4th. 

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's imagination. When her scientist father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra, the reclusive author of her fictional hero, Alex Rover -- the world's greatest adventurer.

"Imaginary Forces made the impossible possible," says Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, Directors of "Nim's Island." "With very little time, they made a title sequence that blew us all away. They are smart, talented, collaborative, responsible, funny and just plain good at what they do. We hope our children grow up to be just like Imaginary Forces."

The animated titles were spearheaded by IF Art Director Sean Koriakin and IF Producer Kathy Kelehan. Told from Nim's point of view, the titles encapsulate the whimsical nature of her world and love of stories.

"This comes straight out of Nim's imagination," explains Koriakin. "We used a paper cut-out style and rough animation to show innocence and playfulness. We wanted it to have a handmade arts-and-crafts feel. We even see Nim's animal friends on the island express their character through this simple animation style."

IF worked closely with Directors Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett to incorporate complementary design elements and palettes from the film into the end titles. The challenge was creating the different CG characters and transitions within a short timeframe, and making them appear constructed from paper, reminiscent of the traditional Russian cut-out styles.

"This was our first time working with Mark and Jennifer, and [Producer] Paula Mazur," concludes Kathy Kelehan. "Once they saw our initial style frames, they immediately understood our approach. We brainstormed with them on the scenarios and transitions, and they were very open to our ideas. It was a fantastic collaboration."

The IF team used Maya and After Effects as their main design tools. Flame was utilized for animation and compositing.

Project Title: "Nim’s Island" -- Opening Titles and Main on End Title Sequence

Designed & Produced by: Imaginary Forces (IF)
Art Director: Sean Koriakin
Producer: Kathy Kelehan
Designers: Sean Koriakin, Brett Krauss, Joost Korngold (Opening MT Card)
Animators: Sean Koriakin, Tom Allain, Andrew Soria, Eric Keller, Andy Dill, Chris Kepka, Juan Monasterio, Joost Korngold (Opening MT Card)
Editor: Keith Roberts
Inferno Artist: Andy Dill, Rod Basham
Coordinator: Heather Dennis
Head of Production: Ben Apley

Distributor: Fox
Studio/Production: Walden Media
VP, Post Production: Jonas Thaler
Directors: Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett
Producer: Paula Mazur
Post Production Supervisor: Michael Tinger
Editors: Stuart Levy, Steve Rotter