Kuntzel and Deygas's memorable and idiosyncratic title sequence to Steven Spielberg's comedy drama thriller Catch Me if You Can (2002), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, depicting the career of the world's most successful con artist, Frank Abagnale Jr.. The slender Lowreyesque figures run through environments that symbolise key plot points from the film, and are accompanied by John Williams' floaty, 1960s jazz-era score. The title design credit is discreetly featured in the shelf, while the papers blow past the pursuer's face. Kuntzel and Deygas are a pair of visual artists who live and work in paris.
Kuntzel + Deygas stylistically transpose the handmade design of Saul Bass using decidedly modern means.
Interview with Kuntzel and Deygas about this opening sequence for catch me if you can :
What was your approach to directing the opening credit sequence and how did you go about developing the “stamp style” animation?
In order to capture the spirit of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, we chose to employ a creative process that did not resort to the use of high technology. We used the same techniques as the film’s protagonist, by imagining the characters in stamp form, made from the same cutters as those used in the film by Frank Abagnale Jr. We wanted to preserve that crudeness.
Rubber Stamps:
Even though Spielberg has made significant use of modern technology in recent times, we realized that high tech did not mesh with this film. Beneath his powerful style and incredible technique, we understood that we had to surprise him by heading towards something that reclaims the “artist’s” work. What mattered was not our know-how but the emotion that we could transmit to a simple thing.
The color palette does so much to set the feel of the jet setting era in which the film takes place. Was there an intentionality to the colors that you selected and if so, what materials did you reference?
The film takes place in the 1960s and Spielberg desired for us to transplant the audience into a varied universe, with a bit of chic and a sense of drama (certainly not a humorous cartoon). We decided to take on the same approach as those who created title sequences during that era: as if we were in that era, working amongst colleagues. Not in terms of technological means, but in terms of philosophy. We wanted to deliver a personal creation that has our mark, that works in contrast to studio title sequences in which the artist’s hand is less visible. We wish to have the audience of this film rediscover a paradise lost.
The colours signal geographical and temporal transitions. The silhouettes stem from our own graphic vocabulary with a sixties twist so it adheres to the subject matter. We decided to employ them here for their symbolic force. The silhouette evokes a character we all ignore — the hero is a trickster. Those are in fact hand-carved stamps, animated in a traditional manner on paper by hand. That “handmade” aspect belongs to title sequences of that era.
Embedding such lovely handmade animations into a precise, down-to-the-millimetre décor on a computer served as a bridge between the past and the present. The audience was able to taste a remnant of that past through the visual comfort of which they are used to today.
Embedding such lovely handmade animations into a precise, down-to-the-millimetre décor on a computer served as a bridge between the past and the present. The audience was able to taste a remnant of that past through the visual comfort of which they are used to today.
Olivier Kuntzel and Florence Deygas, both designers and illustrators, established their "narrative" graphic design under the name of KUNTZEL+DEYGAS in 1990. Together or separately, they tell their preferences for encounters, the methods and the unedited projects, the territories to cultivate, the stories to tell. (Collective exhibitions Ici Paris Beaubourg and Moma 1990; The Strength of art the Grand Palais 2006; D&AD award on 2004). the development of their art
Olivier Kuntzel
A graduate of Decorative arts Olivier de Serre in visual communications, Olivier is, since the beginning of the eighties, one of the pioneers of digital graphic imaging in France. Very quickly, he also became one of the first designers to associate it to an analogical way of expression. In 1988, he became famous with “Tapi dans l’ombre”, a video and object installation at Beaubourg. Olivier explores the fields of drawing, design and production, for the pleasure of the eye or the art of visual communication. Florence Deygas
Graduate of Gobelins school in Animated Film imaging, Florence entered the field of fashion illustration with success. She became one of the major faces of the « elegant drawing » (collaborations with Big, Japanese Vogue, Colette, Yves Saint-Laurent fragrances, Bourjois from 1998 to 2001, collective exhibition Traits Très Mode, several credits in fashion and history of fashion books). Florence explores the fields of drawing, illustration, screenplays and narration, in a very personal and communicative way.
Playground
Cinema
Kuntzel+Deygas are the authors of the mythical opening credits of Catch Me If You Can, by Steven Spielberg (2003), alternative titel sequence of the opening of The Pink Panther (2006), opening title of the movie Le Petit Nicolas (2009).
Objects
Kuntzel+Deygas like and transform things: they found optical illusions in the Glass Harcourt of Baccarat and used it in "Praxinoscope"(2004). They push aside the routines, tell new and unedited stories and "prêtes à porter" (narration in 14 Lacoste polos 2007).
Luxury
Kuntzel+Deygas embody these narrators, a bit surrealistic (Veuve Clicquot Trait d’esprit epistolary and calligraphic history, since 2003 / since 2004, collaborations between Baccarat, Le Bon Marché, Jaeger-Lecoultre, Azzaro Couture, Diptyque, and their characters The Doll and her Bear).
The unique undulating line of the Beauty (by Deygas) is placed next to the encircled and bold drawing of the Beast (by Kuntzel). The Bear is “a man that no longer exists", feminine, intense and romantic. The Doll is a "weak woman" like we like them, free and imperceptible. Each one plays their own character.
Video 2004 Paradisiens; multimedia intervention at Baccarat, Designers Day; 2008 Invitation by Le Bon Marché for collaborations with Jaeger-Lecoultre (show Reverso), the Japanese jeweller Ahkah (necklaces), Azzaro couture (trench coat, perfume, scarf and bag), and Diptyque (pair of candles, fragrance and graphic creation).
Animation for this:
More Interview questions with Kuntzel and Deygas:
What is your collaborative process like? Who does what on a project like this?
When we develop a project, we don’t both do the same thing; each one of us has their own specialities. For instance on a shoot, we’re not both behind the camera. When we draw, we’re not both holding the pencil even though we both can draw. Our field of action is not still, it’s always on the move, and its limits are always floating.
We can switch parts depending on how much affinity we have for the project. If a project requires Olivier’s graphic design skills, then I will do all the things around the graphic design, taking on direction for instance. This role sharing has no defined rules, but is necessary so that each one of us can express ourselves 100% on one point and not 50% on each detail.
Tell us a little bit about Kuntzel + Deygas.
Florence Deygas: Olivier graduated from Olivier de Serres Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art (ENSAAMA), in visual communication. Then he started to work for advertising agencies as an art director, but was soon attracted to making creations for himself, and in a more independent way. I graduated from Gobelins L’Ecole de L’image, studying film animation. My school was not at all theoretical, which suited me perfectly. After studying theatre and being a self-taught illustrator, I needed to learn real skills, to learn how to use some tools. The theory side, I preferred to study on my own.
Olivier Kuntzel and Florence Deygas:
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