Film Title Design as an Art Form

Over this weekend I decided to re-watch a film I hadn't seen since I was probably 14 or 15 years old, TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS, 1990. Not exactly sure what prompted me to think about it. I guess its that I was thinking about what was the first Rated-R film I saw in a theater – bingo.

Anyway, re-watching it caused me to recall what a terrific Opening Title Sequence the film has. It also made me realize how under-appreciated film Title Design truly is as an art of its' own. How often does a films opening title sequence roll by and little if any thought is given to who had a hand in creating it. They are occasionally like mini films of their own.



The fellow that did the Title Design for TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS was 87-year old Wayne Fitzgerald. While his name doesn't roll off the tongue like Saul Bass, he has some amazing credits in his own right. Fitzgerald's list of work is long but some of the highlights are: THE GRADUATE, BONNIE & CLYDE, THE CONVERSATION, CHINATOWN, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, THE BREAKFAST CLUB and really, that's just scratching the surface.

Some of my personal favorite are Dan Perri's RAGING BULL, John Carpenter's very own titles for HALLOWEEN and Teddy Blanks' opening and closing titles for LOVE & MERCY.

What are yours?

The Graphic Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History

Art of the Title (Searchable Database)

 

Psycho - simple but effective.

 

Star Wars! Ha– I kid.

Pretty much all of the James Bond films, especially Maurice Binder's work. I particularly enjoy You Only Live Twice set to Nancy's sexy voice.

I like some of the titles in the later Bruce Lee films.

The titles in Flash Gordon pretty much captured the comic book spirit of the film.

Inception had some nice work.

I just loves me some titles.

 

Saul Bass owns this thread.

 

He's the King but there are others out there

Reza Badiyi



At about 1:20 of the following promo you can see what might be considered a rough version of the H5O opening

Classic 1968 "Hawaii Five-O" CBS-TV Promo (Rare!!)

 

Dan Perri

He really rivals Saul Bass in terms of quality films. Perri has to his credits: THE EXORCIST, NASHVILLE, TAXI DRIVER, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, 3 WOMEN, STAR WARS, RAGING BULL, DAYS OF HEAVEN and the list just keeps going...

 

Panic Room (with a nod to North By Northwest):

 

Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy has great intros for each film.

 

Ya, this was the one I was thinking of (at least as far as more recent films). I remember sitting in the theater and just saying wow out loud as the credits played. I remember nothing of the movie though.

 

Oh, Dan Perri's graphic design for The Exorcist was incredibly effective.

Saul Bass's main titles for Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho really hold up well even today. Given that the latter was done in 1960, it's amazing how modern they still feel today. Here's North by Northwest...

 

I always liked the distinctive hand drawn style of the opening credits for Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

When I saw the opening credits for the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, it was obvious that it was the work of the same person:

Pablo Ferro

 

I always that the opening credits at the beginning of "Holy Grail" was surreal, genius, & hilarious!

 

I was never the biggest NIN fan, BUT, this 're-mix' of "Closer" with these opening credits rock!

 

This may not be related, but I aways found it odd as a kid when a movie would start with an animated sequence, and then switch to live action when the credits were finished (Pink Panther, It's a Mad Mad Mad World, etc). This seems to be much more prevalent in older movies than it is today. Can anyone comment on how this came to be so common? Perhaps it was limited to just comedies?

 

Filmaker IQ has an excellent history of title design on YouTube:

 

I havent seen it since it was released in 2001, but i recall loving the Closing credits for Enemy at the Gates.

 

I believe he did Men In Black too.

 

Another favourite of mine is title sequence for The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Anthony Mann, 1964) - beautiful artwork and the great theme from Dimitri Tiomkin:



Stills: The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) Anthony Mann

Incidentally, Tiomkin's theme inspired Scott Walker to write "Archangel" (issued in 1966 as the b-side of "Deadlier Than The Male", itself a movie title theme although the titles themselves are rather forgettable from a visual standpoint in this instance - see here).

Apparently, the organ heard in "Archangel" was located in the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square:

Scott Walker - Archangel

Archangel vs The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Scott Engel / The Walker Brothers vs Dimitri Tiomkin)

 

I love the titles for Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void:

 

You mean no one has even mentioned this???!


What is so bloody cool here is how the motifs and colors shift with Mancini's theme. The theme is tense, which then lessens before becoming romantic with soaring strings. Then it returns to the tension at the end. The credits keep up the twisting motif, but with variations that shift as the music goes through changes.

 

As you may know, those were just intended to be a draft illustration of what the professionally typeset credits were to look like, but Kubrick liked the rawness of Ferro's sketches so used them as-is, missed spelling mistake and all.

 

I wonder if that was the case for El Cid (Anthony Mann, 1961)?:



As with The Fall Of The Roman Empire, the artist was Maciek Piotrowski.

 

Mon Oncle: