Beyond Magic

2016

Abra Abracadabra...BUCK designed and animated the opening title sequence and graphics package for David Blaine’s 2016 ABC special, “Beyond Magic,” and his subsequent live tour. 2016 Emmy Winner for Outstanding Motion Design.

“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”

- Roald Dahl

David Blaine approached us to make an animated intro to set the mood for his upcoming special. Inspired by David’s mind-bending magic and the Paul Auster penned script (voiced by Christopher Walken in the style of a sideshow barker) we crafted a hero’s journey in the form of a psychedelic trip — a trip into the spectacle of the real.

“One life and one body in which to live that life.”

Cognitive dissonance and mythical allegory became our main themes — touching on man’s need to fit experience into pre-established patterns, and David’s desire to explore his career thematically through myth and symbolism.