Early work After graduating with his
M.F.A. from the
Yale School of Art, Cooper worked at
R/GA (then known as R/Greenberg Associates) from 1988 to 1996, first in New York City and then Los Angeles. Cooper created the title sequence for the 1995 American crime film
Seven, a seminal work that received critical acclaim and is credited with inspiring younger designers for years to come. According to Cooper, at the time he made the title sequence for
Seven, main title sequences lagged behind developments in print, music videos, and commercials. Cooper has stated he aimed to create main titles that would raise the bar creatively for future title sequences.
Founded companies In 1996, Cooper founded Imaginary Forces with Peter Frankfurt and Chip Houghton. Imaginary Forces became one of the most successful creative agencies in Hollywood to emerge from the West Coast division of
R/GA. "We have spent a long time building and refining a brilliant creative and production team… Keeping this group together as our own company is truly exciting," commented Cooper about the name change. Finding himself too involved with the business side of running a design company the size of Imaginary Forces, Cooper decided to focus more on his creative work. In 2003, he left Imaginary Forces and founded Prologue, a creative agency where he works with a small team, focusing on creating title sequences.
Influences Cooper has cited Stephen Frankfurt's opening title sequence for
To Kill a Mockingbird as his most significant influence in his choice of profession. Cooper also draws inspiration from
William Shakespeare; his former production company, Imaginary Forces, takes its name from a line in the prologue of Shakespeare's
Henry V. The idea to name the company after this prologue is based on the concept that opening titles often act like a prologue to a film. This can also be seen as an influence on his current company, Prologue.
Wired noted Cooper is not typically hired for a signature "style" but to "dig under the celluloid and tap into the symbolism of a film". This was a precedent he started with some of his earliest work, notably
Seven.
Seven title sequence Cooper's work on
David Fincher's film
Seven is arguably his best-known work. The sequence is notable for its use of tabletop photography and tactile techniques. Industry website
Art-of-the-Title describes the process: "The typography itself... was hand-etched into black-surface scratchboard and manipulated during the film transfer process to further smear and jitter it." Rather than use digital techniques, Cooper's team largely assembled the sequence by hand. ==Awards and acclaim==