When Production/Design company Mrs. K was asked to pitch for the graphics package for E! Network’s sassy show “25 Hottest Hollywood Cougar Tales” they turned to animation company Gasket Studios for assistance. When Mrs. K was awarded the job, Gasket became the obvious choice to help realize the sexy on air package.
Did someone just say “Here kitty, kitty?”
The show, as noted in the title, is a look at the steamy relations between 25 older stars and their junior significant others. For those that haven’t heard the term, Cougar signifies a woman “In her prime” who roams the wilds of singledom looking for a mate who is always younger and typically male. To capture (pun intended) the appropriate look and feel of the program, Mrs. K Creative Director Mitch Monson pitched two sets of boards to the network, one from Mrs. K and one from Gasket. E! liked them both and wanted to combine the two. Mrs. K designed a rich, sparkling jungle environment that moved from star couple to star couple. Gasket designed a show open that featured a sexy woman/feline who leaps onto the scene, her tail whipping in anticipation of her romantic adventures.
“We were excited to tap the expertise of Gasket and its illustrative and mixed-collage style,” explains Monson. “They really pushed us to render the silhouetted cougar character into in 3D, a technique that was ultimately used through out the multilayered jungle environment in a truly collaborative and rewarding process.”
“Working closely with Mitch was awesome,” says Gasket’s Creative Director Greg Shultz. “We had a great back and forth, always pushing the project up a level. We were inspired by Mitch’s vision of Hollywood sex appeal meets jungle aesthetic, and used the visual language in his designs to bring the cat/woman to life.”
The multilayered show package included the open, lower 3rds, bumps, countdowns, mortises, transitions, backgrounds, etc. Pieces were animated using Autodesk Flame and Maya, and Adobe AfterEffects.
It’s enough to make just about anyone purr with creative satisfaction.
These are stills from the finished show title sequence.
These are the final boards that combine the Mrs. K jungle concept which Mitch Monson put together with the cat woman concept that Gasket added. It focused less on the animal aspect of the cougars more on the celebrities themselves.
Original Gasket style board.
Broadcast package elements were included in the project deliverables executed by Gasket including a countdown, picture in picture match ups of the happy couples, wipe transitions, lower thirds and titles, Where’s kitty?
