The Son (2017)

“God bless Texas!” — Eli McCullough

Journey through the violent history of Texas in the opening of AMC’s new Western series The Son, a sprawling generational saga soaked in sweat, blood, and oil.

Based on author Philipp Meyer’s acclaimed novel of the same name, The Son follows Eli McCullough (Pierce Brosnan), a man whose fortunes seem inexorably tied to that of the Lone Star State. Beginning in the waning days of the Texas Republic, the story is split between two eras: 1849 and 1915. The former arc tracks young Eli’s time as a homesteader turned Comanche captive, the latter the elder Eli’s life as a family patriarch and successful cattle rancher mixed up in the Bandit War. Is McCullough’s story recorded truth or tall tale? It may be a bit of both. They say everything’s bigger in Texas.

For The Son’s opening title sequence, AMC turned to Emmy-winning studio Huge Designs to give the series the mythic quality its huge story demanded. The broad strokes of the McCullough family epic – and in turn the story of Texas as we know it – are all encapsulated in the sequence. Using a mix of drone footage, visual effects elements, and clever transitions, the opening tracks Eli’s turbulent life in one continuous shot, from his abduction by the Comanche through to his rise as a ruthless land baron, before closing on a shot of a Native American figure dwarfed by a modern skyline. The future and all it brings with it await the McCulloughs, but a storm is always brewing.

A discussion with Creative Director PAUL MCDONNELL of Huge Designs.



So we last spoke back in 2013 about By Any Means. Huge has been producing some fantastic work since then. Would you say that much has changed for you and the company with regard to the sort of work you’ve been pursuing and trying to produce?

Paul: To an extent. The Emmy win kind of put us on the radar, so we’ve been getting to pitch on much, much bigger jobs, which is nice. We’ve been doing a lot more work for the US. But apart from that we’re still…

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