I loved the idea of using the double exposure technique and as I mentioned earlier felt it would work well with the Anonymous documentary idea I was working on. It allowed faces to be obscured but in a really interesting and visual way and I felt sure that the technique could be applied to moving images as well as static photographic ones.
So after looking online and talking to some friends and colleagues a few pointed me towards the opening titles sequence of the US detective TV series True Detective. It followed that opening sequences with their often multi layers and filters may have used it so not being familiar with the series (I had it as an unopened box set at home) I sought it out.
HBO's True Detective - Main Title Sequence from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.
The effect looked even better in my opinion in motion rather than the double exposure photographs. The title sequence added mystery, gravitas and movement and created a form of internal editing. The Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein said of his theory of intellectual montage editing is "“an idea that derives from the collision between two shots that are independent of one another”. The interesting thing about the double exposure technique used above is that it is not creating this as Eisenstein intended by shots following one another BUT at the same time. This creates the same effect but the collision of images runs concurrently rather than consecutively.
Aesthetically the affect is really interesting too irregular shapes and compositions filled with intriguing textures and tones and these melting into one another. Also the mix of this with other images, shots of colour, layers moving through layers and fascinating abstract imagery created by the mix of the two. Images are double exposed over faces and people a lot but also inanimate objects, telephones, water towers Naked flesh is mixed with natural images of landscapes, trees and fire and sparks add a shot of red the colour of passion and danger.
The effect in the titles creates a slow-motion dreamlike quality the music images and mise-en-scene of the images used creating a dreamlike pace, but due to the images and their connotations a nightmarish sub-text as all of these together create meaning. An underbelly of society of crime, sex, exploitation, danger and death inhabited by hardboiled cops and a criminal element. The use of industrial buildings demonstrates elements of money and big business and religious imagery of crosses and churches and worship suggests corruption of power and religion. Due to the tone of the titles and indeed the excellent music by T Bone Burnett the whole overall effect is of a noir cop thriller which from research and asking around is the theme of the series.
As far as using this on my own work there is certainly huge potential and I can see it being a way to go. What will need testing is how well it works with realtime images as well as slow motion. The slow motion obviously works well but it does give it that dreamlike quality where I want possibly a more realistic as well as edgy quality to my anonymous pieces. It is very clear that simple bold images work best and animated stills can also work well. Tonally the look used in True Detective is muted and all similar with the odd shot of colour but it will be good to see if brighter images and more use of colour could work too.
Looking into how the technique is created I researched around as well as asking out in-college After Effects wizard Dean Lockwood where I work. As with most things these days there are some excellent tutorials for guidance when creating the look that I have looked over and it all seems very doable. It will require some green screen work and possibly any interviews I want to do being stages in a green screen. This is a technique I have used before and am happy using. It is then just a composition job in After Effects bolting everything together. I am not as confident in After Effects as in other packages but it is something I need to learn and this seems a good place to start. The tutorial for how to create the effect I have included below.
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