Artist Spotlight: Raoul Marks (BTN: Monday, June 26th, 2023)
Exploring an industry trailblazer’s use of the Render Network
Raoul Marks, the exceptionally talented and inspiring two-time Emmy® Award winner, Bafta-nominated Director, and 3D Motion Designer from Perth, Australia, has truly left a mark on the world of visual storytelling. Alongside his creative partner Patrick Clair, Raoul Marks has successfully created a unique career path as a Director at Antibody, where the duo’s collaborative efforts have led to the creation of some of the most iconic opening title sequences of all time.
Over the past year and a half Raoul, already an acclaimed Octane user, has transitioned to integrating the Render Network more deeply into his production workflow, enabling him to create a wide range of work that has pushed the boundary of cinematic visual effects, cryptoart, and motion design. Independently, and with Patrick Clair as part of the new independent creative studio Antibody TV, Raoul has produced a wide range of projects using the Render Network — including the opening title sequences for blockbuster TV shows The Peripheral and Westworld Season 4 and more recently, trailers for AAA-games like the blockbuster Playstation game MARATHON. On the Render Network, Raoul has also created a number of acclaimed NFT releases ranging from independent works to collaborations — including a series with the estate of Alexander Calder , one of the most iconic 20th century Modernist artists.
With an extraordinary creative vision, Raoul has contributed his exceptional skills to an impressive amount of renowned projects that have captured audiences worldwide. His title sequence work — often leveraging Octane — includes: Westworld, True Detective, American Gods, Man in the High Castle and many more.
Not limited to the realm of television, Raoul Marks has also made his mark in the realms of fashion, music, gaming, and the sporting industry. His diverse portfolio also includes collaborations with brands like Louis Vuitton, Adidas, and Audemars Piguet.
This week’s Behind-the-Network (BTN) will look at Raoul’s remarkable career spanning TV, gaming, social media, and NFTs — detailing some of the iconic works he has created using the Render Network.
Blockbuster Opening Title Sequences
Raoul Marks and Patrick Clair created one of the most iconic opening title sequences of the last decade back in 2016 — as part of Elastic TV — for HBO’s Westworld, a reinvention of Michael Crichton’s dystopian science fiction western produced by the Nolan brothers. The enigmatic sequence captured the zeitgeist of an age of artificial intelligence and simulation, referencing the rise of the moving image, western cinema, and post-human technology. You can read a deep dive on the title sequence by Art of the Title below.
In the Season 4 main title sequence, which not only was created in Octane but also rendered on the Render Network, they masterfully blend recognizable visuals from previous seasons with captivating new themes and symbols. The sequence provided an exciting opportunity to delve back into the established aesthetics while exploring previously unexplored, thought-provoking themes and meanings. The central focus of the story revolves around the concepts of control and freedom of choice, with webs — both visually and narratively, serving as a core element.
SILO
Apple’s new series, Silo, a post-apocalyptic science fiction series, premiered on May 5th. The opening sequence, rendered on the Render Network, sets a dark and sinister tone. In a futuristic world filled with despair, a community survives within an enormous underground silo, spanning countless levels. Within this society, 10,000 individuals live in a world governed by strict regulations and are convinced that these rules are their only shield against harm.
Upon watching the show, it became immediately apparent to Raoul and Patrick that the creators had developed a complex and immersive underground world. Their challenge was to strike a balance between the raw and harsh physicality of this environment and the warmth and depth of the countless lives that have been spent within its subterranean walls.
The characters in Silo are unaware of how long their ancestors have resided underground. It was important for the team to capture the essence of this legacy, highlighting the thousands of unknown individuals who have lived, loved, and passed away within this confined space.
The Peripheral
The visually stunning opening title sequence of Amazon’s 2022 science fiction series, The Peripheral, created with the Render Network, showcases vibrant towns and distorted shapes, painted in shades of gold, blue, and gray. The pixels blend together similar to a landscape painting. The sequence features a bridge, a row of houses, and the face of star Chloe Grace Mortez. Chosen as top-10 (#2) Title Sequence by “Art of the Title,” the visuals subtly captivate by connecting different parts of the world and large majestic figures overlooking a city. You can read more about the creative process for The Peripheral in this Art of the Title feature.
The fictional series revolves around Flynne Fisher, a 3D print clerk, and her veteran brother Burton, who live in a rural area and enjoy playing video games. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they become entangled in a complex knot of potential futures, surveillance, and deception. This adaptation of William Gibson’s work marks the first time his writing has been brought to the screen since the 90s, with films like Johnny Mnemonic and New Rose Hotel. The introduction sets the stage for a journey transporting the audience from a bustling metropolis to a place haunted by its past and future.
MARATHON
Raoul Marks and Antibody recently took center stage during the PlayStation Showcase this summer, with the announcement trailer of the return of Bungie’s Marathon dropping at the showcase. Marathon, one of Bungie’s first popular titles and long rumored to make its return, seems to have gotten a new coat of paint if the trailer is to be believed, with Raoul capturing the high-contrast futuristic aesthetics to a T. Over the last month the trailer for MARATHON, rendered on the Render Network, has garnered millions of views and drawn up a large amount of buzz for the upcoming title, one of a handful of buzzworthy projects Raoul and Antibody have created using the Render Network in recent months.
With the Render Network, Raoul and Antibody were able to produce complex animations on a tight deadline, leveraging the power of near unlimited decentralized GPU compute power.
Venturing into NFTs and Cryptoart
OG ASTRO
Raoul is also recognized as a trailblazer in the rise of the independent 3D art community for making the “OG Astro” for free use online. The work, which plays reference to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey has inspired a new generation of 3D artists. Since its release, Astro has been downloaded more than 40,000 times, leading to a surge in users learning 3D and becoming independent 3D artists. The rise of independent art creation in the mid-2010’s was an important part in setting the stage for the rise of NFTs and cryptoart — as creators began to explore independent careers outside the studio system. OG Astro has since gained memetic attraction with the popularity of astronaut-themed artworks on Instagram and in early NFTs collections partially due to the iconic nature of the work.
The original files and soundscape for OG Astro were sold on the leading cryptoart platform Superrare in the fall of 2021, selling for over $100,000 at the time to the renowned NFT collector Bharat Krymo.
Editions and Collaborations
In the past few years Raoul has increasingly embraced cryptoart and NFTs, moving from releasing 1/1 artworks on Superrare to a widely-acclaimed Open Edition series Pop-Zero on NiftyGateway in the fall of 2022. More recently, Raoul has collaborated with Render Network power user NessGraphics on a dynamic NFT, “The Last Gas Station” — which features a linked edition where collectors received two works from Raoul and NessGraphics contained in one NFT, based on the same seed phrase.
More recently, Raoul collaborated with TR-Lab and the Alexander Calder Estate to create an NFT series The Calder Question using the Render Network — leveraging the network to produce stunning immersive particle simulations. You can read an Artnet interview about the collection here.
Upcoming Render Network AMA with Raoul
Raoul will be joining The Render Network team later this month for a live Q&A session on Twitter Spaces. During the interview, he will share insights about his background, artistic journey, and ways that he uses the Render Network to push creative boundaries.
Request For Compute Update
Last week, the Render Network Foundation released a Request For Compute (RFC) — seeking to support expanded compute applications within the network’s ecosystem.
In the first week, the Request For Compute has garnered interest from users across multiple programs and sectors of the market for a range of LLM and image segmentation applications, as well as support for expanded 3D toolsets and render engines — including Maya and RenderMan — to continue the network’s support of more workflows. The RFC is still open for submissions and can be found at Request For Compute (RFC).
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