dark waters
Client
HBO, Anchor Entertainment, Anonymous Content, Abstract Productions
The disappearance and murder of journalist Kim Wall is at the heart of the two-part documentary, Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall. With the latest addition to filmmaker Erin Lee Carr’s catalog of nonfiction films featuring true crime involving women, we were honored to contribute to the graphics and overall series design.
Director Erin Lee Carr and Executive Producer Andrew Rossi, brought the project to us in its early stages and we were thrilled to partner along with the team over at Anchor Productions to design the overall look for the series. As longtime collaborators of theirs, we understand the role the design process plays in Erin’s films, enabling her to make stylistic choices based on what she’s filming. Our goal was to design both beautiful and accurate graphics to enhance the narrative and contribute to the film’s storytelling in a compelling way.
We brought a robust design exploration to Erin and her team early on to assist in the development of everything from the film’s logo, to tweet treatments and headlines, to imagery of Kim, in order to create a cohesive, overall look for the film. The design treatments we presented varied slightly but all prioritized information delivery and an overall simplicity to support the film’s storytelling.
Undercurrent is a nonfiction story rooted in a true crime, but like others in Carr’s oeuvre, the film is focused on giving an accurate depiction of Kim Wall rather than a sensational one. Thus, it was important for us to keep in mind the content and the audience when designing graphics. Our goal was to keep the design language clear and concise so as not to detract from the story unfolding on screen. We landed on a clean, modern approach for our design: elegant, simple and crisp; and most importantly, to the point.
Ross Henderson was the design director for this project and his ability to elevate a story through motion graphics really underscored the elegance of the film’s design. Whether typography or tweet elements, his ability to simply and beautifully convey information through graphics resonated perfectly for the tone of the film.
The opening sequence of the series sets out to establish key story elements as well as create a rich and textural environment that immerses the viewer in the story. We carefully considered the role of design and typography within this cold open and decided on clean and elegant treatments that could be seamlessly woven between evocative and eclectic imagery.
True to the thesis of the film, our design maintained Kim as the focus whenever possible. Photos of Kim were brightened while photos of Peter Madsen were lightly distorted via an ink bleed or another technique to minimize his presence within the film and Kim’s story. We also designed beautiful maps of Copenhagen to guide the film’s narrative, lower thirds, locators and date information that were all hand animated.
Additionally, we modeled a 3D replica of the infamous submarine where the murder occurred, used in the cold open and in occasional other relevant moments.
We always enjoy the collaborative process of working with clients to achieve the right look and feel for their work. Our extensive deliverables list required frequent client input from our partners at Anchor and a high level of organization in everything from motion tests to archival footage treatment on through to delivery. High quality design output and attention to detail was a priority for us throughout the process in order to reflect the high caliber of our creative partners.
Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall is an HBO Documentary Films presentation of an Anchor Production, in association with Anonymous Content and Abstract Productions; Undercurrent is available to stream now on HBO Max.
Props where props are due
