Imperial Post worked with Screen Siren Pictures on the motion graphics and visual effects for their documentary, Citizen Bio, which aired on Showtime in fall 2020. The film showcases the unique culture of biohackers pushing the limits of DIY gene therapies.
We helped create over 150 motion graphics and VFX assets for the film including a 2 minute timeline animation depicting the history of biohacking.
The timeline required a brief visual explanation of how the gene editing technology, CRISPR, worked. Collaborating with Christian Whiticar, we created a 3D animation which was then integrated into the timeline.
Some of the terms used in the film are fairly new to our society, so to help explain, we created a series of definition animations. Again, wanting to emulate a real camera filming a computer monitor, these definitions were stylized using pixel textures and a dark-green background like that of a command line program.
Working with designer, Drew Donaldson, we created unique title animations throughout the film, including a main title animation, lower thirds, location titles and more. The idea was to have each letter of the title animate in using the four letters used for DNA sequencing, ACTG. We then wanted to give certain titles a DIY feeling through the use of hand-written letters in place of certain letters.
Collaborating with Kyle James & Lou Currie, we created a series of Headlines, Social Media, and Website animations to help tell the story using still images and text. We wanted it the style to emulate a camera filming an actual computer screen by giving each animation a RGB pixel texture. However, wanted the animations to be more dynamic, with 3D movement and parallax.
We're really proud of this work, thanks so much for the opportunity Screen Siren Pictures!
