BEN STILLER | RED HOUR PRODUCTIONS
MAIN ON END TITLE

Prologue was responsible for all of the Academy Awards graphics at the end of the film, and the main on end sequence. Prologue was qualified for the job, having designed the actual Academy Awards graphics on more than 10 of the prestigious broadcasts’. We designed the Best Actor typography on the screen behind the podium, where Tugg receives the highly coveted Oscar. The main on end features Les Grossman dancing along to Ludacris’ party anthem “Get Back”. We cut the sequence together, piecing Les’ number with explosive footage from the film. The credits begin to animate on, harmonized with the music and Les’ fluid movements. Like the characters in the film, the type is subject to Les’ outspoken and sometimes abusive behavior, designed as part of the animation for the sequence. As the edit progresses, the cast and crew are presented from scenes in the movie that become freeze frames and flow-motion graphic art. We treated each frame of the respective actor with designs that correspond with the action on screen, and the characters’ temperament in the film. A considerable amount of work went into this process, first, choosing the scenes from the film, and then, the design phase for each of the 21 graphic art freeze frames, including the main title.
Red Hour Films, run by Ben Stiller and producer Stuart Cornfeld, tasked Prologue with updating the Red Hour brand for the release of Tropic Thunder. The name Red Hour refers to the period of an Alien riot in the Star Trek episode “The Return of the Archons”, released in 1967. A jester has been the prominent figure in the Red Hour logo since its inception in 1999. For the 2008 rebrand, we drew inspiration from the ever-present joker cards that come in a standard 52-card deck. We animated the sequence in a flipbook style, as if a croupier was flipping through a deck occupied only by joker cards. In the animation, the silhouetted jester completes a flip while simultaneously catching its marotte, as the Red Hour type animates on. Stiller and Prologue would join forces yet again on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and Zoolander 2 (2016).