Imaginary Forces Creates Haunting Main Titles for Koppel on Discovery's Breaking Point

published Oct 15, 2007
Imaginary Forces Creates Haunting Main Titles for Koppel on Discoverys Breaking Point
For "Breaking Point," the latest documentary in the Koppel on Discovery series, design and production company Imaginary Forces (IF) created chilling main titles, which introduce the special report's investigation into California's overcrowded prison system.

"Breaking Point," spearheaded by creative director Karin Fong, is the 5th show that IF has done for Koppel on Discovery.

A fusion of inmate mugshots drives the opening sequence, multiplying and building in tempo until the screen becomes congested and dark.

The barrage of faces continues to grow out of control before "Breaking Point" appears over the blackened background.

To push an analog aesthetic, the designers worked with mugshots that the Koppel Group provided, and referenced various prison surfaces for textures.

Fong and her team kept the look low-tech with layered and overlapped faces and ID numbers to create a sense of overcrowding onscreen.

"This is an epidemic filling the prison system, growing like a cancer," explains Fong.

"By registering the faces on top of each other, the image becomes a nameless and faceless prisoner.

It's as if we Xeroxed the inmates over and over until it became a black inky mess -- a Warhol silkscreen gone awry.

We wanted a raw viral feel, as though this 'plague' cannot be contained."