JIM HENSON IDEA MAN
STUDIO: BGSTR
CLIENT: DISNEY
Academy Award winning filmmaker Ron Howard takes us into the mind of the singular creative visionary in ‘Jim Henson Idea Man’, the Disney+ feature-length documentary that premiered at Cannes. BGSTR designed the film’s graphics and title sequence for the film, touching on moments of Henson’s legacy spanning his entire life from his early years puppeteering to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond.
One of the most intriguing design challenges for the "Jim Henson Idea Man" documentary was visualizing 'The Cube' – a concept central to the film's narrative. As a 3D designer, my focus was setting up the 3D scene to bring this abstract idea to life for BGSTR. This set up ended up becoming the perfect storytelling device for the film— both referencing Henson’s creative mind and infusing his vision into the imagery.
THE CUBE
In this film, we introduced a distinctive storytelling technique—recreating "The Cube" from the 1969 "NBC Experiment in Television" and applying it to the movie’s interview segments. This idea originated from the Imagine team, with the goal of seamlessly integrating visuals with the interview content to deliver a flawless visual experience.
To bring this vision to life, I contributed to designing a 3D simulated cube, providing the team with an essential platform for visual exploration. After numerous trials and refinements, we finally achieved the desired outcome. During the design process, our focus extended beyond merely projecting images onto the cube’s surface; we also strove to establish the perfect tone for the narrative. At one point, we debated whether the projected visuals should represent Jim from beyond or perhaps a specific reel of footage.
- My 3D Cube Projection Shot – Designed and Rendered with C4D, Redshift, and After Effects
After thorough deliberation, we settled on a direction: the cube would dynamically display whatever visual content the interviewee needed at key moments in the conversation, tailored to the thematic context. This design ingeniously blended visual effects (VFX) with experiential design, and though it posed significant technical challenges during implementation, the final result became an indispensable highlight of the film’s storytelling.
This tool not only paid homage to Henson’s creative ingenuity but also infused his artistic vision into the imagery, lending the film a unique charm. The realization of the cube was undeniably one of the greatest hurdles in the filmmaking process, yet we successfully overcame it.
- Contribution to the Film’s End Credits
Creative Director, Designer
Mark Thompson
Executive Vice President, Executive Producer
Carson Hood
Vice President, Head of Production
Virgil Conklin
Producer
Jessica Rowley
Animation Director
Casey Drogin
Design
Ross Henderson, Muskaan Sethi
3D Design and Animation
Nick Woythaler, Leo Bai
Max Strizich, Ivan Viaranchyk, Momo Zhao, Carl Dempsey, Elijah Ben, Liu Chialung, Ayden Ackerman