Title Sequence for John Carpenter’s The Thing (2025)
The Thing (1982) is one of my favorite horror films, and this title sequence was created as both an homage to the movie and a design exercise in translating its atmosphere into motion.
Rather than recreating scenes directly from the film, I wanted the sequence to feel like an artifact from within its world. Inspired by the film’s 1980s setting and Blair’s computer simulation scene, I framed the animation inside a IBM computer placed on MacReady’s desk. This allowed the title sequence to reference the film’s visual language while creating a contained system for the animation.
The storyboard:
Narratively, I wanted to present a simplified version of the film’s plot without revealing everything.
I focused on the core tension of The Thing: isolation, infection, uncertainty, and the gradual collapse of trust.
Originally, I planned to have gross flesh wrap around the computer at the end. But I ended up taking it out since I worry it would be spoiling too much about the monster.
Huge thanks to Garrett Sherman for helping me with sound mix!