# Chief of War > An animated title sequence for Chief of War, Apple TV's historical drama about the unification of Hawaiʻi. Canonical page: [Chief of War]() Project ID: aka\_cow Year: 2025 Role: Designer & Animation Director I designed and directed the sequence from pitch to delivery with Studio AKA's CG team, contributing some hands-on Houdini work while the technical artists built the feather and landscape setups. Work: [Chief of War]() (2025) Production: [Studio AKA]() Client: [Fifth Season]() *Chief of War* is Apple TV's nine-part historical drama about the unification of Hawaiʻi in the late eighteenth century, told from an Indigenous perspective. Created by [Jason Momoa]() and [Thomas Paʻa Sibbett](), it stars Momoa as Kaʻiana, a warrior swept into the campaign to unite the warring islands and protect them from colonization. Studio AKA created the animated main title sequence. Showrunner [Doug Jung]() and post producer [Greg Spence]() invited [Studio AKA]() to make the main title sequence. ## The Sequence [Chief of War: Main Title Sequence]() Royal feather capes, the ʻahu ʻula worn by Hawaiian aliʻi, inspired the sequence. Red and yellow feathers cover the islands, turning landscape and featherwork into images of conflict and unification. [Yellow feathers flow like a rippling cape in warm, dappled light.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [Yellow feathers push up through dark soil between the leaves of taro plants.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [A field of taro stretches toward steep crags cloaked in yellow feathers, backlit by a hazy sun.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [Carved wooden kiʻi wrapped in yellow feathers stand beside a feathered figure of Kū against a bright sky.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [A stone temple platform with a carved tower stands on a clifftop covered in yellow feathers above the sea.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [A human skull and bones lie half-buried in a mass of red feathers.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [Seen from underwater, a wooden ship's hull breaks the surface as anchors drop and red spreads through the water.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) [Red feathers surge across a plain into yellow land, throwing up clouds of smoke and debris.]() (Studio AKA for Fifth Season) ## Featherwork Worn as marks of rank and in battle, these capes use bundles of bird feathers tied to olonā netting. Their red, yellow and black patterns informed the sequence’s movement and forms. [A crescent-shaped yellow feather cape with a black crescent, red triangles along the neck, and two red hearts.]() — Feather cape (ʻahu ʻula) of ʻōʻō and ʻiʻiwi feathers on olonā, late 18th to early 19th century. Honolulu Museum of Art, 3306.1. Photo: Hiart, CC0. (Hiart / Wikimedia Commons, CC0) [A pale yellow feather cape with a black crescent and two soft red arcs, on a dark red ground.]() — Feather cape (ʻahu ʻula), 19th century. Hawaiʻi State Art Museum. Photo: Wmpearl, CC0. (Wmpearl / Wikimedia Commons, CC0) [A color plate of a golden feather cape with black and red crescents curving around its neck.]() — The Lady Franklin Cape, from the Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, vol. VII, plate II. Public domain. (Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum / Wikimedia Commons, public domain) [Fingers bind a bundle of bright red feathers, with yellow feathers blurred behind.]() — Red feathers bound in a featherwork demonstration at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, 2013. Photo: NPS, public domain. (National Park Service / Wikimedia Commons, public domain) The craft nearly disappeared, and it is thriving again. [Hawaiʻi Public Radio]() tells the story of its revival, and [Aloha State Daily]() talks to Rick San Nicolas, the featherwork consultant whose team made the capes for the series. ## Making Of I designed and directed the sequence with creative director [Philip Hunt](), head of CG [Lawrence Pankhurst]() and CG lead [Vincent Husset](). The capes, feathers and islands were built in Houdini. I contributed some hands-on work alongside design and direction; the technical artists were responsible for building the feather and landscape setups. The CG team, led by Lawrence Pankhurst and Vincent Husset, took it through animation, FX, lighting and compositing, and [Matt Jones]() handled the graphic design. The work ran from the first pitch in the summer of 2024 to delivery that December. The music is the show's main title theme by [Hans Zimmer]() and [James Everingham](), with [Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole](). ## Links More on Studio AKA's website. - [Project on studioaka.co.uk]() - [STASH: Studio AKA opens Chief of War]() - [GEMA: War comes to Hawaiʻi]() - [Art of VFX: Chief of War opening titles]() ## Credits - Client: Fifth Season - Animation Main Title Sequence by: Studio AKA - Designer & Animation Director: [Gergely Wootsch]() - Executive Producer: [Nikki Kefford]() - Creative Director: [Philip Hunt]() - Production Co-ordinator: [Sarah McDonald]() - Editor: [Nic Gill]() - Head of CG: [Lawrence Pankhurst]() - CG Lead: [Vincent Husset]() - Modelling and Rigging: [Jerome Ferra](), [Anna Kubik]() - Animation: [Vincent Husset](), Ola Madsen, [Sam Howell]() - FX: [Alex Jevon](), Ola Madsen, [Sam Howell]() - Lighting and Compositing: [Will Eagar](), [Vincent Husset](), [James Gaillard](), [Daniel Garnerone](), Joe Dymond, Sebastian Mayer, Ioana Tanasache - IT: [Brandon Bayliss](), Jack Lewis - Pipeline Support: [Paolo Fazio]() - Graphic Design: [Matt Jones]() - Produced by: Studio AKA - Main Title Theme: [Hans Zimmer](), [James Everingham]() - Featuring: [Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole]()