Slice (2018)

“So you're telling me that my pizza place is built on a gateway to hell?” — Jack

Describing Austin Vesely’s werewolf-pizza Chance-the-Rapper comedy-horror film Slice is a mouthful. But with a premise like that, it’s no surprise that it bears a fully loaded, stuffed crust, dripping hot delight of a title sequence.

Created by artist and animator John Christian Ferner Apalnes, also known as I Saw John First, Slice’s titles are a cornucopia of body parts and blades, leather and lightning, neon demons and gnarly rides, all set to a synth- and bass-heavy score by composers Ludwig Göransson (who also created the score for 2018’s Venom) and Nathan Matthew David. The theme begins and ends with a crash of thunder but in between is a medley of twisted cackles, choral voices, electric strings, knife sounds, and a smattering of howls, yells and oozing drips. When the credits appear they’re promptly slashed across their middle, the quick shink of a metal blade cutting through the music.

Slice and its opening join the recent trend of 1980s pop culture nostalgia, landing squarely in the wake of neon-lit title sequences for shows Stranger Things (2016) and GLOW (2017) and films Atomic Blonde (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Not only does the sequence pull from the iconography and aesthetics of the era but it also resurrects the technique of hand-drawn animation. In the ’80s, cartoons and neon typography were commonly used to open films, especially in comedy and camp-tinged horror. Think: the glowing typography in the openings of Re-Animator (1985), The Fly (1986), Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), or Darkman (1990) and the animated sequences introducing Creepshow (1982), Night of the Demons (1988), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Loverboy (1988) or Stay Tuned (1992).

In 2018, an animated main title sequence is rare in film but Slice delivers the goods as well as a feast for the senses. We talk to Artist I Saw John Christian about his airbrushed animation and Director Austin Vesely about why the film needed an introduction for its story and its shlock.

A discussion with Slice Director AUSTIN VESELY and Main Title Designer I SAW JOHN FIRST.

This is your first feature film. What was your journey like to getting this film made?

Austin: Yeah! It was an interesting ride. From the script stage and up to release it was about four years. It was a wild ride. It had all these twists and turns that were really unexpected but really amazing, like A24 getting involved. I had a script, my friend Brandon Riley was looking for something that could be produced in Chicago. I had been working with Chance the Rapper…

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