One year before I was born HBO made a very ambitious intro that was said to be the most expensive and innovative concepts at the time (for the medium).
I love the idea of incorporating techniques from the real world inside of After Effects for even more unique results. In fact the whole idea of mattes for compositing come from the early days of film-making…
Watch the final intro above then be sure to check out the making of video below, especially the part towards around 5:30 that talks about the burst of light…
I’ve also created a project file using that similar technique that mixes 2 images into a subtle animation. Download the Project