I AM REBEL
Radicals, mavericks, and change-makers
Documentary / Broadcast
Client
National Geographic
Industry
Broadcast
Location
New York
Deliverables
TV Creative
Editing & Color
Motion Templates
Documentation
Rebels, radicals, mavericks, & change makers.
I Am Rebel is a series for National Geographic TV about figures who brought about radical change. Episodes feature a gritty NYC crime photographer, America's most famous hacker, an airline hijacker, and the grandfather of psychedelics.
A documentary series composed of characters, periods, & worlds.
Premium Documentary Programming.
National Geographic started a push for "Premium Documentary Television" to compete in the space of new streamers and established broadcast brands. I Am Rebel (originally working-titled Story of Vice) served as an opening salvo in this new front.
In addition to inspiring writing and highly stylized film recreations, one of the frontiers of this new documentary push was imaginative motion graphics. Noisy Neighbor conceived, designed, and produced over an hour of in-show graphics for the 4-episode series.
Structure
The series' goals for motion design were multi-faceted:
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To help tell unique and complex stories within the larger stories of each episode
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To add dimension and depth to the show's massive still photography library
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To give context and energy to typographic elements, such as headlines and titles
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Visual effects, screen replacements, color effects, and post-production cleanup
Change only happens when you break the rules.
Concept, design & motion
Each episode had its own unique look and aesthetic, and each called for its own visual language. Working on every episode simultaneously, we created a triage system of components which could be adapted and repurposed at scale, and elements which required one-off designs and treatments.
We designed a series of photo templates to provide contextually appropriate and appealing vehicles for showing stills.
For the series, we championed and honed a technique which we nicknamed "photo deconstruction." It involved isolating and extracting numerous photo elements to allow camera movement inside, around, and through still pictures.
We worked with texture and typography to recreate a richly varied collection of era appropriate headlines, and we used archival and recreation footage to design efficient sequences and transitions.
Images change the world when an artist forces you to see it in a way you haven't seen it before.
Visual effects
We handled a wide array of screen replacements, changes to signage and text, and other post-production fixes, augmentations, and improvements.
Conform and delivery
Working closely with the series' editors and color artists, we developed a system for remotely managing renders, and sharing and exchanging LUTs and other metadata to maintain a smooth and consistent delivery workflow.