I worked with Co-director Bryce Wymer to make this title sequence for the Netflix original series, Marco Polo. 

The brief from the Weinstein company was centered around how this show was not like that of your fathers' generation. It was to be violent, raw and full of danger all set against the lavish backdrop of Kublai Khan's court.    
The idea was to contrast this richness with the simple black and white of ink and paper, the authentic materials of Marco Polo's famous memoirs. The macro imagery of mercurial traveling ink was a metaphor for his journeys and spoke to the beautiful and familiar imagery of the time. 

Shockingly, instead of lotus flowers and pastoral scenes, the ink formed images of severed heads and impaled victims, motifs inspired by the key themes in the show - violence, greed, betrayal and sexual intrigue.

For an interview and breakdown of the sequence as well as a full credit list, go to the Art of The Title article here.

Storyboard frames by Mark Yates.