Daniel Kleinman’s Spectre Opening Title Sequence press release

The release of Sam Mendes’ Spectre marks another winning collaboration between Rattling Stick Director and founder, Daniel Kleinman, and award-­winning post production house Framestore;; who together bring their years of past experience on Bond to create yet another stunning title sequence for the franchise.

The work kicked off in May, after the sequence director Daniel Kleinman received the call-­up from Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Once the script had been read, Kleinman started concepting visual ideas. With six Bond sequences already under his  elt, Kleinman knew exactly how to approach the work: “I don’t have any preconceived ideas;; anything stored up or saved up from other things when I come to the job -­ it’s important that the ideas and visuals are narratively driven. In most Bond films there’s a theme that runs throughout. That will be the thing that I take and run with, try to find the visual metaphors, and have some fun with the idea of it.” He explains: “I often start creating the title sequence before I’ve heard the song. For Spectre I heard the track reasonably early -­ not a finished edit, but it was helpful. I tried to link the images to the lyrics occasionally, not so it’s pedantically illustrative, but with a lightness of touch. ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ is, in essence, a love song, which is  trange because ‘spectre’ is such a sinister word. It’s actually one of a few instances that the title doesn’t appear in the lyrics at all. It’s an interesting dichotomy, trying to make a long song at once ominous and sexy, reminding us of the love story behind all of this Bond action.”

The creative process spanned almost four months, involving upwards of 30 artists and producers, who worked closely with Kleinman to define the images, style and tone of the sequence. For teams accustomed to creating shorter, snappier commercial spots, the Bond titles are a chance to approach the work in a different way: ‘There’s more scope, for sure’, says Executive Creative Director William Bartlett. ‘On a commercial the work tends to be more buttoned-­down, with a greater focus on the technical rather than the creative. There are technical challenges here too, of course, but the emphasis is on the creative exploration’.

The primary elements of Spectre include the octopus, and a focus on love and relationships, not typical of recent Bonds. Of course, there  are the ‘staples’: girls, guns, the occasional skull, to remind us of the heritage surrounding the film. A heritage Daniel Kleinman maintains, continuing the multilayered legacy of Bond.