Framestore Visualises Industrial Playboy Lifestyle in 'Agnelli'

Nick Hooker helmed the director role for HBO's new documentary 'Agnelli'. The documentary explores Italian industrial mogul (and playboy) Gianni Agnelli, best known as the influential head of Fiat. Framestore's Design Studio worked seamlessly with Nick Hooker to concept the elegant and striking title sequence. The full film is available on premium content provider HBO. 

Director Nick worked to maintain strong visuals throughout the film to hearten the legacy of Gianni Agnelli, an iconic figure to Italy's style, industry and politics. Working with Vanity Fair Producer and Editor Graydon Carter, Hooker had access to incredible resources, from people like Valentino, Lee Radziwil, Henry Kissinger and the Agnelli family to beautiful settings in Rome, Venice, Turin, Piedmont, Geneva, Zurich and New York. To evoke immediacy, Hooker's documentary style was inspired by portraits from the eighteenth century, where the subject is looking directly at the viewer. He recreated these portraits within the subjects' homes using an Interrotron, facilitating eye contact by way of the camera lens.

Nick says: “I wanted to turn the interviews into portraits of these characters in their own homes.”

Framestore's Design Studio worked fluidly with Nick to create the ending title sequence as a continuation of the film. Chanelling Gianni Agnelli, the New York Design Team established a narrative of beauty and refinement reflective of the film itself. They were successful in creating a sequence that was simple, elegant, and striking, sustaining feeling at the end of the feature.

Nick adds: “This title sequence is part of the narrative and transcends design.”

For the ending sequence Framestore's Design Studio projected characters from the film onto a series of stunning 3D models, giving the audience a poetic and dignified reprise of the film. The team came up with a simple yet tasteful approach to give the photos of key characters a subtly glamorous feel while creating models of classical statues, an Italian Art Deco chandelier, and an iconic Ferrari 250 GTO. The sequence was placed at the end to remind the audence of the story they had just seen.