‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ unveils new visual effects opening
Most late night talk show openings are remarkable in how unremarkable they are. A few sweeping camera shots of a city at night, the guests’ names and that’s pretty much it. But the new opening sequence for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is taking a page from the “Game of Thrones” playbook.
The new sequence, unveiled Tuesday night, used visual effects from Industrial Light + Magic to show the landmarks of Hollywood assemble themselves before our eyes, similar to the way King’s Landing sprouts from the map of Westeros in the opening of HBO’s hit fantasy drama.
No, “Kimmel’s” new opening isn’t quite as stylized as “Game of Thrones,” but it’s miles away from the opening of “The Tonight Show” in the Johnny Carson era, when it was nothing but a shot of a curtain.
Visual effects supervisor Richard Bluff, who also oversaw effects for ABC’s “Agent Carter” and Angelina Jolie’s film “Unbroken,” supervised the new sequence.
In a crowded late-night field that is only getting more crowded, it seems the talk shows are turning to tools usually reserved for blockbusters.
Perhaps James Corden could open his new “Late Late Show” with an epic space battle? That’s something we’d all watch.
Twitter: @patrickkevinday
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