Kyle Cooper (born 1962) is an American designer known for his main title sequence work. He has produced and directed over 350 visual effects and title sequences for motion pictures and broadcast.

Early life

Childhood

Cooper was born July 13, 1962, a Friday the 13th, in Salem, Massachusetts. As a child, he spent his days sketching monsters. He was fascinated by comic books, monster makeup books, and horror films. Cooper stated in an interview with Revert to Saved that he had always wanted to be a film director: "I've always been interested in film and editing—more specifically, the juxtaposition of images in film or on a single page. However, I felt it more comprehensive to tell stories over time. Print design can provide great single moments, but I wanted to work with a sequence that had a beginning, middle and end".

Education

Cooper attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, studying interior architecture. While struggling academically, he convinced his professor to let him pass by promising never to work as an interior designer. and is credited with inspiring younger designers for years to come. According to Cooper, at the time he made the title sequence for Seven, main title sequences lagged behind developments in print, music videos, and commercials. Cooper has stated he aimed to create main titles that would raise the bar creatively for future title sequences.

Founded companies

In 1996, Cooper founded Imaginary Forces with Peter Frankfurt and Chip Houghton. Imaginary Forces became one of the most successful creative agencies in Hollywood to emerge from the West Coast division of R/GA. "We have spent a long time building and refining a brilliant creative and production team… Keeping this group together as our own company is truly exciting," commented Cooper about the name change. Finding himself too involved with the business side of running a design company the size of Imaginary Forces, Cooper decided to focus more on his creative work. In 2003, he left Imaginary Forces and founded Prologue, a creative agency where he works with a small team, focusing on creating title sequences.

Influences

Cooper has cited Stephen Frankfurt's opening title sequence for To Kill a Mockingbird as his most significant influence in his choice of profession. Cooper also draws inspiration from William Shakespeare; his former production company, Imaginary Forces, takes its name from a line in the prologue of Shakespeare's Henry V. The idea to name the company after this prologue is based on the concept that opening titles often act like a prologue to a film. This can also be seen as an influence on his current company, Prologue. Wired noted Cooper is not typically hired for a signature "style" but to "dig under the celluloid and tap into the symbolism of a film". This was a precedent he started with some of his earliest work, notably Seven.

Seven title sequence

Cooper's work on David Fincher's film Seven is arguably his best-known work. The sequence is notable for its use of tabletop photography and tactile techniques. Industry website Art-of-the-Title describes the process: "The typography itself... was hand-etched into black-surface scratchboard and manipulated during the film transfer process to further smear and jitter it." Rather than use digital techniques, Cooper's team largely assembled the sequence by hand.

Awards and acclaim

Cooper has been credited by Details magazine with "almost single-handedly revitalizing the main title sequence as an art form". Los Angeles magazine calls him the "Da Vinci of main titles".

  • Spider-Man 3 (2007)
  • Across the Universe (2007)
  • Iron Man (2008)
  • The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  • Tropic Thunder (2008)
  • Orphan (2009)
  • Sherlock Holmes (2009)
  • Tron: Legacy (2010)
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
  • The Walking Dead (2010)
  • Arthur (2011)
  • American Horror Story (2011)
  • The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013)
  • Godzilla (2014)
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)
  • Scream Queens (2015)
  • Limitless (2015)
  • Feud (2017)
  • Resident Evil 2 (Remake) (2019)
  • Death Stranding (2019)
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
  • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (2025)
  • Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (2025)

References

  • The Incredible Hulk (+ Kyle Cooper interview) on Art of the Title
  • Kyle Cooper video interview pt. 1/2 on Forget the Film, Watch the Titles
  • Kyle Cooper lecture Kyle Cooper lecture at Boston University