“You could be forgiven for thinking that Canberra is Cold War era Berlin.”

There were many reasons for the success of Secret City, the six-part Australian political thriller that ran on Foxtel’s Showcase from June this year. The haunting quality of Canberra’s architecture and its ever-present fog helped to give the film its authenticity.

Cutting Edge creative director, Finnegan Spencer’s title sequence design played a major role in creating the film’s buzz. And Spencer has just won Gold at the 2016 PromaxDBA ANZ awards for the work.

This was the fifth major award that he shared with Matchbox Pictures and Spencer’s second Gold in a row for title sequence design at PromaxBDA. The Foxtel  mini-series, Deadline Gallipoli, on which Spencer also worked won

• Gold: Title Sequence Design, 2015 PromaxBDA ANZ
• Gold: Title Design: 2015 Australian Production Design Guild
• Best in Category: Design for Film And TV, 2015 Award Award
• Gold: Titles and Openers – 2016 Australian Effects and Animation Festival

Finn has become known for his understanding of motion and effects that allow him to push the boundaries of design to create standout visual solutions, from rebranding ABCTV to design directing the titles of Baz Lurhman’s The Great Gatsby.

Spencer took The Stable behind the scenes to explore his work on Secret City:

“It was fantastic to work with director Emma Freeman and producer, Penny Chapman. Being given a lot of latitude made a lot of difference to the work I was able to do.

“There were obvious cues to use – its espionage thriller genre, the mystery and frustration in its plot, its Cold War setting, Canberra’s architecture and the fog. Canberra is known for its fog and this was a trigger for me. It seemed to be an important part of the suspense inherent in the story of a woman trying to find the truth that is always just out of reach.”

Of course, no work worthy of a Gold award is achieved without overcoming challenges.

“The biggest challenge was that we really didn’t get to start on the project until after the principal photography was finished, so we couldn’t dovetail into the shoot to film specific things.

“In fact, Emma didn’t want to use any footage from the shoot. The advantage, though, was that I got to create something unique and the eerie quality that made the sequence impactful happened natural because of the process. We had to create everything ourselves in 3D – including people from photographs, adding small amounts of natural movement. This is where the eeriness came from – a little like models breathing. And then the fog accentuated the mystique.”

Every new job teaches you something, and Secret City was no exception for Spencer.

“With this job, more than any other, I learned the value of fighting for what you believe in. The process of getting the job over the line involved so many meetings and it would have been easy to do something quite simple. But everyone loved the direction the project was taking and those passionate voices helped to get the idea across.”

What’s next for Spencer?

“I’ve just done the titles and graphics for Mel Gibson’s new movie, Hacksaw Ridge – his first in ten years. It made its debut at the Venice Film Festival and received a 10 minute standing ovation. I’m also involved in some VR projects that intend to shake things up, using VR in new and more meaningful ways.”