The Film Inside the Film

Kyle Cooper is one of the most sought-after men in Hollywood. But he’s not an actor or a director, and he doesn’t bankroll big-budget movies. Cooper’s genius is making two-minute masterpieces on film: he designs the title sequences and credits that open and close a movie.

Since the 1990s, Cooper’s visually stunning breakthrough work has transformed film titles from a routine exercise in rolling credits to a form of experimental high art. His groundbreaking title sequence for the 1995 film Se7en, whose jittery editing and scrawled typography sent viewers straight into the mind of a serial killer, has been called one of the most important design innovations of the 1990s. Tonight the Salem, Mass., native will be at the University to talk about his craft and his unique design approach as part of the College of Fine Arts Contemporary Perspectives Lecture Series, which brings professional artists to campus so undergraduate and graduate students can benefit from listening and talking to them and seeing their work. Cooper was a cofounder of the visionary design firm and production house Imaginary Forces in 1996 and currently runs Prologue Films, in Venice, Calif., which he founded in 2003.

“Kyle Cooper’s work for his studio, Prologue, resides at the forefront of motion graphics design,” says Kristen Coogan, a CFA assistant professor of art in the graphic design program. “Analog and digital processes characterize his masterfully executed movie title sequences. The BU graphic design program is thrilled to host Cooper, as we share a similar appreciation of both craft and technology in our design thinking and making.”

Read more at: BU Today