Pitch frames for AMC’s 61st Street which highlights promising Black high school athlete that gets swept up in the Chicago criminal justice system.
Utilized both illustrative techniques and 3D to develop these looks.
Explored two directions:
“Lights”
a volumetric, light-based direction intended to build the tension early on in the episode through a noir-esc, dark, high contrast environment. Given the pre-lapping of sound that occurs throughout the series, this direction shares that aesthetic with light overlapping between scenes. From shot to shot, these lights could overlap to introduce new (almost parallel) environments (i.e. the chicago skyline to the high school track).
“The Thin Blue Line”
a two-tone graphic execution working heavily in negative space and visual metaphors. This direction uses a layering technique, and dynamic camera moves to illustrate how a promising high school athlete is essentially stopped in his tracks by the corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. It also exhibits a thin blue line, which heavily insulates the police from justice, being split down the middle, symbolizing a sort of dismantling and exposure.