Kyle Cooper-Prologue

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is a famous director and designer of many film title sequences. He was born in July 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts. Cooper went on to earn a BFA from the University of Massachusetts in interior architecture. From there, Cooper went on to study graphic design at the Yale University School of Art, earning a MFA.

In 1996, Cooper co-founded Imaginary Forces and produced multiple famous film titles like Mission Impossible, Se7en, and Spider-man. But in 2003, he left Imaginary Forces and founded Prologue Films where he still continues to produce great film titles sequences like The Incredible Hulk and The Walking Dead.

Cooper’s creative expertise has certainly by noticed. In 2008, he was a finalist in the National Design Awards. He has earned 5 Emmy award nominations and one win for his work on the 81st Annual Academy Awards. He also holds the title of Honorary Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts in London.

One of Cooper’s acclaimed title sequences was from the 2008 “The Incredible Hulk.” In this film he designed the famous animation that Marvel uses now that portrays a flipping Marvel comic book. Cooper created original footage and used production footage in the sequence, and used the material as a prologue to the film, attempting to tell the origin story of the Hulk. Cooper attempted to portray the hunt of the Hulk using a large map as the main element which showed all the sightings and locations of the Hulk pinned and connected on the map. Cooper used close-ups and scenes from the Hulk’s point of view in order to reveal not too much of the Hulk’s identity. Lastly, he used green type which appeared on the composition and zoomed in as it left the composition.

Cooper is also known for his involvement in the popular television series “American Horror Story.” In the fourth season, “Freak Show,” Cooper used stop motion and CGI to set the tone for the show about freaks. He did this by displaying a theme of body horror and disfigurement with the inclusion of close-ups. His use of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh font and the faint wiggling movement of the type mimicked the strange organic movement of the freaks in the sequence. Cooper’s use of carnival-inspired music only enhanced the creepiness of the title sequence as a whole.