Comin’ right at ya: Asleep at the Wheel

ARTS + LABOR

Art Direction + Design + Animation

The Ask: Create a compelling teaser documentary that would secure investor funding for a feature-length Asleep at the Wheel documentary.

The Idea: Asleep at the Wheel's story spans decades of American music history, but their archive was scattered and static. We needed to bring their rich visual legacy to life in a way that would both honor their heritage and excite potential funders about the feature film's possibilities. By transforming archival materials through innovative animation techniques, we could demonstrate the visual storytelling potential of the full documentary.

The Execution:

• Archive Curation: Scanned and digitally archived hundreds of historical photos, film negatives, contact sheets, and vintage music posters, preserving decades of band history for both the teaser and future use.

• Visual Language Development: Collaborated closely with the director to establish a distinctive visual approach that brought static archival footage to life through animation and stop motion techniques.

• Custom Typography: Hand-lettered all title treatments and text cards to authentically replicate the hand-illustrated fonts from vintage show posters, maintaining period authenticity throughout the visual design.

• Animation Innovation: Developed creative techniques for presenting archival materials that went beyond typical documentary approaches, showing investors the unique visual potential of the full-length film.

• Brand Integration: Extended the established visual style to various tour materials for the band, creating a cohesive identity system that honored their legacy while supporting current promotion.

The Result:

• Funding Success: The teaser successfully secured investor funding for the feature-length documentary, proving the concept's commercial viability.

• Festival Recognition: The completed feature documentary premiered at SXSW 2022, one of the most prestigious platforms for documentary film.

• Visual Legacy: Established the visual language and techniques that carried forward to the feature film, executed by the Arts + Labor team.

• Industry Recognition: Won Silver Austin ADDY Award, recognizing excellence in documentary visual design and animation.

• Archive Preservation: Created a comprehensive digital archive of the band's visual history, preserving important American music heritage for future generations.