2020 Emmy Nominees for Main Title Design, Music
07.30.2020
In the so-called Golden Age of television, main titles elevated into an art form all their own, with the opening sequences for shows such as Mad Men, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones all becoming iconic in their own right.
Today, it's important for shows to have distinctive main titles as they work to grab notice in a very crowded TV landscape.
In 2020, the TV Academy nominated seven opening title sequences for outstanding main title design-with four of them created by agency Elastic-and another six for outstanding main title theme music. The sequences, where available, are below.
And the nominees for outstanding main title design are:
Outstanding Main Title Design
Netflix's Abstract: The Art Of Design
A RadicalMedia Production in association with Tremolo Productions & Godfrey Dadich Partners Below is the opening title sequence for the first episode of season two, which aired in 2019. This series, which premiered in 2017, offers a different sequence for each episode and each of these sequences is in the style of the designer featured in the episode.
Creative Director: Allie Fisher
Animator/Director: Anthony Zazzi
Amazon Prime Video's Carnival Row
Produced by Legendary Pictures TV and Amazon Studios
This fantastical main-title sequence perfectly captures the vibe of this series, about a world in which magical creatures cohabitate with human beings, although not without strife.
RELATED: Fantastical Creatures Populate Amazon's 'Carnival Row'
Agency: Elastic
Creative Director: Lisa Bolan
Art Director: Henry DeLeon, Mert Kizilay
Designer: Kaya Thomas
Animator/Compositor: Yongsub Song
Animator: Alex Silver
Epix's Godfather Of Harlem
Produced by ABC Signature Studios
This sequence takes viewers on a mixed-media tour through Harlem scored with uplifting choral music.
Creative Director/Editor: Mason Nicoll
Designer/Lead Animator/Art Director: Peter Pak Designer: Giovana Pham
Animator: Cisco Torres
Apple TV+'s The Morning Show
Produced by Media Res
Adapted from Brian Stelter's book, Top of the Morning, the Apple TV+ series tells the story of a morning news show that looks perfect on viewers' TV screens but is actually a broiling mess of scandal behind the scenes.
Elastic got lots of attention for this simple but brilliant main-title sequence that casts colorful dots as characters from the show. The Morning Show earned Apple TV+ eight Emmy nominations, including acting nods for Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass and Martin Short.
RELATED: Elastic Does A Lot With Dots
Agency: Elastic
Creative Director: Angus Wall, Hazel Baird
Lead Designer: Emanuele Marani
Lead Animator: EJ Kang
Animator: Peter Murphy, Erik Righetti
Netflix's The Politician
A Fox21 Television Studios Production
The old saying goes "politicians are born not made" but Elastic's main-title sequence for Netflix's The Politician, starring Broadway darling Ben Platt, would beg to differ. This also marks Elastic lead animator Youngsub Song's second Emmy nomination this year in this category.
RELATED: It Takes More Than Objects to Make a Man in Netflix's 'The Politician'
Agency: Elastic
Creative Director: Heidi Berg, Felix Soletic Lead Designer: Carlo Sa
Lead Animator: Yongsub Song
3D Artist: Joe Paniagua
Editor: Rachel Fowler
HBO's Watchmen
Produced by HBO Entertainment in association with White Rabbit, Paramount Television, Warner Bros. Television & DC Comics
Each episode of Damon Lindelof's electric and oh-so-timely retelling of the graphic novels, Watchmen had its own quick main-title sequence that reflected the episode's theme. Although as in all things Lindelof, that theme was rarely obvious.
Agency: Elastic
Creative Director: Paul Mitchell
Art Director: Olga Midlenko
Lead Compositor: Maciek Sokalski
Animator: Gabe Perez
Designer: Benjamin Woodlock
HBO's Westworld
Produced by HBO Entertainment in association with Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television
Nominated twice before, Patrick Clair brought back his delicately crafted main titles for Westworld with some fresh notes and Easter eggs that fans spent time picking through to try to garner some clues ahead of season three.
RELATED: 'Westworld' Returns with Revamped Main Titles
Creative Director: Patrick Clair, Pinar Yanadarg Delul Lead Animator and Compositor: Raoul Marks
Designer: Lance Slaton
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Amazon Prime Video's Carnival Row
Produced by Legendary Pictures TV and Amazon Studios
Theme Music by Nathan Barr
Apple TV+'s Defending Jacob
Produced by Anonymous Content / Paramount Television Studios
Theme Music by Ólafur Arnalds
RELATED: Nothing is as it Seems in Apple TV+'s 'Defending Jacob'
Netflix's Hollywood
Theme Music by Nathan Barr
Netflix's Unorthodox
Produced by Studio Airlift and RealFilm
Theme Music by Antonio Gambale
Discovery's Why We Hate
Produced by South Cove Productions
Theme Music by Laura Karpman
Hulu's Wu-Tang: An American Saga
Produced by Imagine Television Studios Theme Music by The Rza