In 1997, Kyle Cooper was creative director at imaginary Forces, the first company he named and founded. He worked with Micheal Riley on the main title sequence for Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca, a title which refers to the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA (Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Thymine, Adenine, Cytosine, Adenine) The sequence begins with a bible verse: “Consider God’s handiwork; who can straighten what He hath made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13) along with a William Gaylin quote superimposed over a black background, both of which evoke within the viewer thoughts about what is ’natural’, and what mankind’s role should be in altering it. That black background fades into a dark blue, as macro photography is utilized to show clippings of hair, fingernails, and skin falling in slow motion. Credits fade in and out in a simple white typography, with certain letters standing out in bold, as the film’s protagonist grooms himself and prepares the false testing samples. When the title is displayed, the viewer comes to realize the bold letters were characters that made up the word Gattaca.
