Hollywood design and animation house S4 Studios has produced a ten-second animated opening title sequence for TLC’s upcoming six-part series Street Customs. Set in Ryan Friedlinghaus’ West Coast Customs shop in Corona, Calif., the automobile customization show is exec produced by Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television (American Chopper, The Ultimate Fighter) and makes its debut Oct. 11 as part of TLC’s Thursday night TURBO programming block.
The initial opening sequence was produced and directed in 3D and HD by S4 partner Geoffrey Kater, who studied Automotive Design at Art Center in Pasadena, Calif. The piece distills the construction of the ‘Corvelle,’ a Chevette body over a Corvette Chassis. Parked in the middle of a stylized version of the West Coast Customs shop, the CG car takes shape to the beat of a throbbing piston as various effects converge on the vehicle. Graffiti peels off the shop walls to adorn the body and metallic-colored doors open to display the interior. Sparks fly from a welder’s torch and the hood opens to show the gleaming machinery just before the corrugated shop door slams down to reveal the beveled, metallic silver West Coast Customs logo. The sequence was animated with Lightwave 7, After Effects V 9.0 and Photoshop
‘The idea behind Street Customs is not only to show the process behind the builds, but also to show the complete originality of West Coast Custom’s commitment to creating super high-end custom, sophisticated vehicles,’ says Kater. ‘They’ve done builds for everyone from Carroll Shelby to the Sultan of Brunei, and each one has its own unique signature. It was our job to graphically capture the flavor of the shop, as well as to highlight the pure natural curves, the posture and the street beauty of the car. It’s all about getting that gearhead element when you start putting art and metal together in this way.’
For S4 Studios’ Thomas Helmintoller was the creative director/designer, Sarah Keturah was the associate designer, and S4 co-owner Larry Le Francis was VP creative services on the project. S4 specializes in entertainment branding, content development, 3D animation, visual effects and live action production for television, feature films, commercials, trailers and home video. Since it was founded in 1999, the studio has built a client roster that includes NBC Universal, Cartoon Network, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Studios.
