Netflix: Michael Jackson: The Verdict
We worked closely with director Nick Green and Executive Producer David Herman on this three-part docu-series, delivering over 100 graphic shots across the series. Our work included developing treatments for newspapers, courtroom sketches and photos, all designed to support the storytelling and bring the series to life.
Michael Jackson: The Verdict – Graphics Showreel
NEWSPAPER
We wanted the newspaper graphics to evoke the shock and outrage people would have felt reading these articles at the time. To achieve this we utilised a simple, but high contrast palette of black white and red, along with fast editing, jump cuts, whip zooms and blurs to create a jarring, uncomfortable sensation when viewing. As if you can’t quite believe what you are reading.
COURTROOM
The trial itself is a large part of this series, so we needed to find a way to tell this story visually with no actual video of the trial. By digitally manipulating the courtroom drawings we create the basis of our scenes. A depth of field is created with blurs, and parallax to pull focus, so that when the camera moves, the viewer is pulled forward off their seat and into the courtroom.
PHOTOS
Photos feature in a few different ways in this series. We open with some montages establishing the aura and fame of Jackson, his global reach and cultural importance. These sequences are more dream like, images fade over each other, each building his legacy further.
Photos from the families who were affected by Jackson are embedded into polaroid frames, and create a more personal and intimate moment. There are many photos that feature in this series, photos that span Jackson’s entire life. The key for us was to create a visual look that would unify these disparate photos so they can sit beside each other cohesively.
Titles and Motion Design: Past Curfew
Design Director: Allison Brownmoore
Production Manager: Mark Hughes
Designers: Kevin Smy, Sylvain Doussa, Callum Welch