MakeMake Creative Director Duncan Elms is the mind behind the main titles for Netflix’s new documentary series The Dinosaurs. Setting the tone for an epic spanning the rise, evolution, and extinction of the dinosaurs, Duncan cloaks these awe-inspiring creatures in natural environments, slowly revealing their extraordinary size and might.
We spoke with Duncan about his process, his creativity, and the vision behind this beautiful title sequence.
1. What’s your favorite part of being a Creative Director?
For me, it’s all about collaboration. I love leading diverse teams of talented artists and working together to push a vision far beyond the original brief. It's a delicate balance of providing direction while leaving plenty of room for creative freedom—that’s when people truly feel invested and deliver their absolute best work. I also love the sheer variety of the role. On any given week, I’m jumping between completely different projects, creative needs, and timelines. Whether I’m brainstorming fresh concepts for a pitch, reviewing mid-production animation, or making that final quality-control push before delivery, there’s never a dull moment.
2. Do you have a personal favorite shot in the sequence?
My favorite has to be the shot of the Brontosaurus first starting to stand up. The sheer scale of it is incredible. We added pterodactyls flying past to really emphasize that enormous size and dwarf the viewer. I also just love the overall atmosphere in that shot—the moody mist and the way the creature's skin texture perfectly bridges the gap between a living dinosaur and a weathered, rocky mountain face.
3. What themes from the series did you feel were most important to capture in the opening?
Two main themes drove this project: scale and impact. We wanted to celebrate the sheer, unimaginable size of these creatures and how deeply they shaped the Earth, but we also had to honor their end. Incorporating the meteorite that caused their extinction was crucial, and placing it at the very end of the sequence gave us the perfect, dramatic climax to the visuals.
4. Were there early concepts that were completely different from what we see in the final sequence?
Absolutely. We generated a ton of different ideas during the early stages. We explored everything from a massive, intricate sculpture depicting an epic “Battle for Earth” interweaving hundreds of dinosaurs, to a highly abstract approach in which we formed the dinosaurs entirely from raw elements like fire, water, ice, and stone. As a team, it is always fun to explore those stylistic extremes, but ultimately, the 'hidden giants' concept we went with felt like the perfect, majestic fit for the show.
5. What parts of the sequence were the most technically challenging to execute?
Definitely the shots where the dinosaurs physically rise out of their environments. Simulating massive creatures breaking through rocks or surging out of water usually requires massive feature-film VFX teams. We were working with a tight timeline and a small, agile crew. Our artists had to be incredibly resourceful, pouring a ton of hard work into the animation and simulations to hit that cinematic quality. I'm incredibly proud of what they pulled off.
Check out The Dinosaurs on Netflix
