Motionographer® “Smoke” Main Title Design for Apple TV+

In Smoke, the Apple TV+ crime drama from Dennis Lehane, fire is more than a plot device. It’s obsession, ritual, and a symbol of unraveling. To reflect this, Apple Studios brought in Emmy-winning creative studio Digital Kitchen to design the opening title sequence — a slow-burning visual that plays entirely in reverse, revealing each object only after it’s been consumed by fire.

Created fully in-house over four months, the title sets the emotional and visual tone for the series. Smoke follows a detective (Taron Egerton) and an arson investigator (Jurnee Smollett) tracking two serial arsonists in a psychological game of pursuit. Digital Kitchen’s concept approaches fire not as spectacle but as psychological portraiture. Each item, from a police badge to a potato chip, was filmed burning in real time, then played backward to create a visual puzzle.

“We wanted to visualize the duality of the show’s core idea: one character trying to unravel destruction, the other accelerating it,” revealed Mason Nicoll, Executive Creative Director at Digital Kitchen. “That meant designing a sequence that felt both clinical and poetic, where every frame pulls the viewer deeper into the psychology of the arsonist.”

The team shot real burns using RED and Blackmagic cameras, avoiding visual effects in favor of practical fire tests with fast food containers, VHS tapes, sunglasses, and other unique textures. Color use was minimal to spotlight ash, texture, and heat. A haunting track by Thom Yorke sets the tone, guiding the pacing and deepening the psychological tension.

Typography draws from 1970s thrillers and forensic labels, combining retro cues with a sharp, modern finish. The studio completed the project using Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve.

The sequence ends with the show’s title dissolving into flame. What begins as destruction becomes memory, hinting at the obsessive minds at the heart of the story.

Smoke is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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Client: Apple TV+

Main Title Concepted, Designed, and Produced by Digital Kitchen
Executive Creative Director: Mason Nicoll
Art Director & Cinematographer: Rachel Brickel
Art Director & Designer: Peter Pak
Motion Artist: Simon Chan
Designer: Ana Criado
Editor: Justin West
Senior Producer: Matthew Lynch
Managing Director: Ally Malloy
Music by: Thom Yorke