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Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)

Justice League: The New Frontier
All of you, fight on! To the last breath FIGHT ON!
—Wonder Woman
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Nautilus rockets, McCarthyism in an Atomic Age, moonlit-framed rooftop chases, lightning bolts that echo Saul Bass, and a symphonic score by Kevin Manthei punctuate director and title designer David Bullock's opening to Justice League: The New Frontier.

Audio commentary excerpt with Writer Darwyn Cooke:

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From the Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray

Audio commentary excerpt with Director David Bullock, Screenwriter Stan Berkowitz, Producers Bruce Timm and Mike Goguen, Voice Director Andrea Roman, and a DC Comics liaison Gregory Noveck:

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From the Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray

  • Summary
  • Credits

A production breakdown with Director DAVID BULLOCK.

DB: I put these together with a great compositor by the name of Aziria Owens. Azi would, in After Effects I believe, build the shots from layered storyboard files that I "cut" in Photoshop. Once the individual shots were finished they went to WB's editing department. Some of the Avid work is a bit clunky, but this thing had no budget! Going for a Saul Bass approach was not only the right design approach, it was economical as well. Although we had no real money I agreed to put the titles together on weekends over the course of two to three months while I directed Sony's The Spectacular Spider-Man toon.

Overall, the movie was robbed of time. Darwyn and I had many discussions on how to cram story information into the titles as well as how to set the tone. And even more discussions about fonts! I based at least half of the shots on Darwyn's NF comic covers and interior pages. All that was left to do there was to choose a great "Blue Note" color scheme and figure out how to get in and out of the shot. The remaining shots were attempts at capturing the tone of the era's design greatness.

Kevin Mathei came up with an ever-building soundtrack that really adds intrigue to the piece. Honestly, I was all about a Brubeck-style jazz approach, and would still have liked to pursue it, but I was outflanked by producers. Remember the great Johnny Quest title music? That's what I'm talkin’ abooouuutt! That said, I'm very happy with what we have. Anyway, it was a great opportunity, and I revelled in it!

View 22 images

Storyboard examples

View the credits for this sequence

Director: David Bullock

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Title sequence

  • Category

    Film
  • Styles

    2D, digital, graphic, main title, retro
Justice League: The New Frontier
  • Film Director

    David Bullock
  • Release Date

    December 26, 2008
  • Aspect Ratio

    1.78:1
  • Studio

    Warner Bros. Animation
  • Country

    USA
  • Language

    English
  • Reviews

    Reviews on Letterboxd
  • IMDb has full details

Article

  • Writer

    Alexander Ulloa
  • Published

    November 14, 2008

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