The Title Sequence - Angelika Schneider · When all title cards for one film were ready, the production company filmed them and produced the final title sequence. film title design

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First Bachelor Thesis

The Title SequenceA film-within-a-film

Completed with the aim of graduating with aBachelor of Science in Engineering

From the St. Pölten University of Applied SciencesMedia Technology degree course

Under the supervision of

Mario Zeller

Completed by

Angelika Schneidermt0810261088

St. Pölten, on01. 07. 2010

Schneider Angelika, mt0810261088

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Declaration

• the attached research paper is my own, original work undertaken in partial fulfilment of

my degree.

• I have made no use of sources, materials or assistance other than those which have

been openly and fully acknowledged in the text. If any part of another person’s work

has been quoted, this either appears in inverted commas or (if beyond a few lines) is

indented.

• Any direct quotation or source of ideas has been identified in the text by author, date,

and page number(s) immediately after such an item, and full details are provided in a

reference list at the end of the text.

• I understand that any breach of the fair practice regulations may result in a mark of

zero for this research paper and that it could also involve other repercussions.

• I understand also that too great a reliance on the work of others may lead to a low

mark.

Day Undersign

Schneider Angelika, mt0810261088 II

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Abstract

This bachelor thesis has the aim to analyse title sequences of American and European motion

picture.

Starting with the historical background of opening credits, this paper focuses on their development

through decades of technical changes and stylistic influences. This should reveal groundbreaking

main titles and their designers which set historical milestones. Based on this results the paper

analyses the success of outstanding designers and their work. The last part of the paper focuses

on the connection between title sequences and film genres.

This analysis was carried out for several reasons. Beside a personal interest, it seems important

before starting with your own opening sequences to get an idea, which standards have developed

and why. Furthermore it makes sense to look up the most successful works and read how their

designers have created them. This could be helpful on the one hand and inspiring on the other

hand.

Writing this thesis it was useful to read the spare literature which is available about this topic at

first. From there I searched for title sequences mentioned in these books and quickly found some

websites which focused on opening sequences. There I were able to find interviews with designers

and additional information.

In the last chapter I defined the criteria for a main title analysis. Then I used these yardsticks to

deconstruct classic romance, action and horror/thriller movies to answer the question whether

there is a connection between title sequences and genre or not.

Summing up this thesis shows that creating the right mood for the movie, and that includes

disclosing the genre of the upcoming motion picture, is the most important step to a successful title

sequence.

Schneider Angelika, mt0810261088 III

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Table of Contents

Declaration ............................................................................................................................... II

Abstract .................................................................................................................................... III

Table of Content ....................................................................................................................... IV

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1

1. DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................ 2

2. MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF TITLE SEQUENCES ....................................... 4

2.1 PRE TITLE SEQUENCE ERA ........................................................................................................ 4

2.2 ONCE UPON A TIME… ..................................................................................................................4

2.3 COLOUR AND SOUND ................................................................................................................. 6

2.4 TITLE DESIGN STUDIOS .............................................................................................................. 7

2.5 TITLE DESIGN AS AN ART FORM ................................................................................................ 8

2.6 THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION ................................................................................................. 9

2.7 RETROSPECTION AND FORECAST ............................................................................................11

2.8 LEGAL REGULATION OF CREDITS ............................................................................................ 12

3. MILESTONES OF SUCCESS ........................................................................................ 13

3.1 SAUL BASS .................................................................................................................................... 13

3.2 PABLO FERRO .............................................................................................................................. 15

3.3 KYLE COOPER .............................................................................................................................. 17

3.4 COMPARISON................................................................................................................................ 18

4. GENRE AND TITLE DESIGN ......................................................................................... 19

4.1 PREPAIRING THE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 19

4.1.1 TYPEFACES .................................................................................................................... 19

4.1.2 COLOUR .......................................................................................................................... 22

4.1.3 TECHNIC ........................................................................................................................ 23

4.1.4 COMBINING CREDITS AND PICTURE .......................................................................... 23

4.1.5 COMBINING TITLE SEQUENCES AND DIEGESIS ....................................................... 24

4.2 THE ANALYSE ............................................................................................................................... 25

4.1.1 ROMANCE ....................................................................................................................... 25

4.1.2 ACTION ........................................................................................................................... 26

4.1.3 HORROR/ THRILLER ..................................................................................................... 28

4.3 RESULT .......................................................................................................................................... 29

5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 30

References ............................................................................................................................... 31

List of figures ............................................................................................................................ 36

Appendix .................................................................................................................................. A

List of Films ......................................................................................................................... 38

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INTRODUCTION

“ Es ist der Vorspann, der den Eintritt des Zuschauers in die Fiktion überhaupt erst ermöglicht.”Roger Odin (Böhnke/ Hüser/ Stanitzek 2006, cover inside)

This Odin quote could be rendered in English as “ A film needs the title sequence to lead the

audience into the fiction” and can be seen as the basic principle of this paper.

Furthermore Stanitzek writes in his article Vorspann “wenn irgendein Filmschnipsel mikrologische

> Andacht zum Unbedeutenden < verdient, dann ist es dieser - maxima in minimis.” (Stanitzek

2006, p.20). This could be rendered as: “If there is some small piece of a film which is worth to be

examined carefully, then it is the title sequence.”, and that describes what this paper is all about.

The title sequence is a film-within-a-film which has two aims to reach. First it has to clear the

copyright issues and thereby tells you something about the production of the motion picture.

Secondly it has to take over the introduction part of the movie and to bring you in the right mood for

the following film. Inwardly it also raises your expectations for the upcoming motion picture.

Even films like FILM OHNE TITEL (1947) or APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) where the directors have

refused to use credits and titles have an opening sequence which is in many aspects similar with

those of common title sequences. For example in APOCALYPSE NOW the images combined with

a song by The Doors take over the function to bring the audience in the right mood and to

externalize the genre of the movie.

The refusal of showing credits or titles just gets it's quality and attention through disappointed

expectations. You can only break existing rules.

The aim of this thesis is not to attest the importance of title sequences, instead I want to analyse

the rules for breathtaking title designs. Therefore I will first reconstruct the history of them and

show their evolution. Then I will go on to analyse the success of main opening credits and their

designers. In a last step I want to define some criteria for main titles and try to find links between

the genre of a film and the title sequence.

Most main titles, especially in the last thirty years, are a combination of typography, graphics,

sound, real footage and animations. Thereby they are influenced through broad field of inventions.

In this thesis I concentrate on the visual aspects of title sequences from European and American

film productions.

All movies mentioned in this paper can be looked up in the Appendix A. Additional to title and year

of production you can find the director and if known the title designer there.

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1. DEFINITIONS

title sequence (opening title, main title, opening credits):

In this thesis this term constitutes the beginning of a film which combines the film title and some

credits with audiovisual design. This means that the opening titles are a combination of typography,

graphic, animation and sound. It usually starts after the logo of the film-studio and in most cases

closes with the name of the director. Some films have a pre-credits action sequence which is not

part of the main title.

titles:

This term underlines the juridical entitlement, but also stands generally for type in a movie and is

also used for subtitles or inter-titles. (cf. Böhnke / Hüser R. 2002, no page)

credits:

In this thesis the term “credits” is only used for the naming of individuals and companies in

connection with their involvement in the production of the movie. Therefore credits are an

unremitting characteristic of opening and closing titles. For some people a famous actor or a

special director also increases their expectation of the film. Also the word-image of credits can

influence the effect on the audience.

closing credits (closing sequence):

At the end of every film the full credits are presented. Sometimes just as vertical scrolling text. But

often this is an own film at the end of a film.

Typogramm/ Typokinetogramm/ Iconogramm/ Iconokinetogramm (Schaudig 2002, p.173-174)

• The term Typogramm is used for text presented on a two-dimensional cinematographic

imaging without movement. (q. v.: chapter 4.4)

• Typokinetogramm is an expression which is used for writing which is presented on a two-

dimensional cinematographic imaging in motion (e.g. crawl text, scroll text and all kind of

2D type-animations). (q. v.: chapter 4.4)

• When the lettering is integrated in the scene, but not animated – we talk about an

Iconogramm (q. v.: chapter 4.4).

• If the credits are integrated in the film and animated, then it is an Iconokinetogramm (q. v.:

chapter 4.4)


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title card:

This expression has the same meaning as title sequence, but it refers to the way the first opening

titles where made. In the early ages of film where digital post production was not available, title

cards where hand made by artists or printed with mechanical hot type. (cf. Harris 2006, pp.123-

124)

Most title cards where painted on glass. This technic was expensive but opened up a huge range

on opportunities for the artists. It was possible to paint shadows on the backside of the glass to get

more depth, to make the letter more three-dimensional trough smoothing cement or to simply put

glitter on the typography. (cf. Harris 2006, p.127)

A cheaper version was to take the printed title design and use an optical reversal process while

filming the text. Through a reinforcing of the black/white contrast, the titles became their typical

plane style on black background. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.174)

When all title cards for one film were ready, the production company filmed them and produced the

final title sequence.

film title design (title art, opening title design):

This term focuses on the audiovisual composition of title sequences.

the word-image and the typographic-image:

The totality of the word produces two meanings. One is related to the idea represented by the word itself, constructed from a string of letters - the word-image - and the other one from its holistic visual

manifestation - the typographic image. ( Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.6)

film movement:

A film movement consists of

1. Films that are produced within a particular period and/or nation and that share significant traits of style and form

2. Filmmakers who operate within a common production structure and who share certain assumptions about filmmaking

(Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p.464)

diegesis:

The diegesis is a literal or direct form of story telling. (cf. Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.6) It is the

total world in which the story takes place and includes therefore rooms and actions which are not

shown in the movie. (cf. Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, pp.70-71)


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2. MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF TITLE SEQUENCES“Not everything is possible at all times” Heinrich Wölfflin (Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p. 464 qtd. in Wölffin 1950, page unknown)

To analyse title sequences it is important to know why people have started to create them, why do

we use them today and which technical or stylistic inventions have influenced them.

Therefore this chapter focuses on the link between significant film movements, technical progress

and their influence on the history of title sequences or title sequence designers.

2.1 PRE-TITLE-SEQUENCE ERA

At the early ages of cinematography the title was not mounted on the film material. Instead the

credits were announced by the film projectionist, printed in the program or screen with the Laterna

Magica (an early version of a slide projector). (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.168)

The new technology was about moving images and about reproduction of the real world. Therefore

stills of typography seemed to be waste of film material. (Ibid.)

2.2 HOW EVERYTHING STARTED

1897 Thomas Edison, owner of the first film studio in America, added title, company name and

copyright disclaimer to his movies. In the first time this had just judicial reasons and seemed like an

imprint in a book.(cf. Böhnke/ Hüser 2002, no page)

At the same time proximate filmmakers just wrote this copyright and right of use notation on the

first frame of the film material by hand. This text was called “flashtitle”. If at all the audience just

noticed it as an aberration. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.170)

When the first pirate copies appeared, the industry started to work on the style of the company

logos and trademarks to protect their work. (cf. Böhnke/ Hüser 2002, no page)

As filmmakers started to produce “feature-length films” and cinema shows changed from an

attraction of an amusement park into a serious cultural event, it became more common to include

title cards on the film material. The company logo, the title and the copyright notation became a

part of the movie. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.170)

At this time the classical title design was white typeface on black background. Black-and-white

films had on average a grey shade. A white background with a little black type in it would have

flashed the audience because of its brightness and would have been awkward. Therefore they

decided to choose white types on black background. Thereby also the abrasion and fouling of the

film material was less visible. (cf. Schaudig 2002, pp.174-175)


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After 1970 Woddy Allen started to use this classical form of reduced title design in most of his films

(see figure 1). (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.177)

However, in the 1890s, filmmakers tried to work with typography in the scene to get away from this

style. One very famous example is Thomas Edison's advertising for “Admiral Cigarette” in 1897.

First he integrated text into the set design and the props. To support the message of the spot, one

of the actors enrolled a white banner with the slogan “We all smoke”. Once the poster is

suspended, it is large enough to stretch out over all actors. In the end they point at the lettering

“Admiral Cigarette” on the wall. (cf. Pulch 2002, pp.14-15)

This advertising can be seen as one of the first experiences of type as Ikonogramm.

1911 Thomas Edison made an additional title card for the actors/ cast. One year later he also

included the screenplay writer in the main titles. He hoped this would help to get famous writers for

his films. (cf. Böhnke/ Hüser 2002, no page)

Soon it became a standard that the position and the font size of the actors name in the title

sequence was part of the contract. That's the reason why in some films of this era the names of the

main actors have the same size as the title. (cf. Harris 2006, p.128)

Until the 1920s it was also usual to present the main actors after the title sequence in their

costumes and mask. This prologue should establish the stars in their role. In some films the

director was presented as well. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.170)

With a huge range of actors or production members which should be shown in the same type size

and at the same “frame”, it became necessary to create vertical scrolling text. At this time they

used script tables in a vertical (portrait) format which were moved trough the widescreen format of

the film camera to realise this movement of two dimensional text.

Originally vertical scrolling text was used in the title sequence, like in the movie DER STUDENT

VON PRAG (1913). Today the full credits are moved to the closing sequence, but they still have

mostly the same style as in the beginning: white, vertical scrolling text on black background. (cf.

Schaudig 2002, p.170)

Through the silent film era, lettering artists not only painted the titles and credits, they also created

the inter-titles, which informed about time, place and dialogue during the film. Each major studio

had their own craftsman for this job.


fig. 1: picture 1-3: the title Sequence of Sleeper (1973); ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1shIHF0KJs)

picture 4-6: title sequence of Casandras Dreams (2007) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XcA8XsJVms)

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2.3 COLOUR AND SOUND

Between 1925 and 1930, mostly through the efforts of “Warner Bros.”, it became possible to create

sound films. (cf. Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p.469) The possibility to record dialogues lead

inevitably to a reduction of inter titles.

At this point filmmakers started to use typography like it is used in reality. They used letters or

newspaper headlines in the scenes to transfer information. (cf. Pulch 2002, p.22)

Like the film LE MÉPRIS (1963) shows, it became also possible to present the credits through a

narrator who tells the audience something about the film production. Just the company logo and

the title were Typogramms, then the film starts with a establishing shot from the film location and

the narrator starts to talk.The title sequence ends with the camera “looking at the audience”.

In the early age of sound film the following norm was established for the title sequence:

The film starts with the logo of the producers or the studio, then the opening titles continue with the

names of two main actors, the film title, five more actors and ends with the full crediting of the

production members. The last title card is always “Directed by…”. (cf. Schaudig 2002, pp.176-177)

One title sequence had just one typeface, but different font sizes. The style was redolent of printed

programme books. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.176)

1930, title designers started to give some structure to the background. (cf. Schaudig 2002, p.176)

An advanced example is KING KONG (1933), there the foreground and the background had the

structure of jungle leaves which make a slow, wiping transition between the title cards. (Bellantoni/

Woolman 1999, p.7)

In the 1930s colour cinematography signed another revolutionary step in the history of film making.

While in Europe the leading colour system was Gaspal, the forward-looking colouration technic in

America was called Technicolor. Both systems made the step from a two colour system into a

three-colour-system, to reproduce an array of hues. Even tough Gaspal film remained very stable


fig. 2: title sequence of Le Mépris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_m85eoa-8s)

fig. 3: title sequence of King Kong (Bellantoni/ Wollman 1999, p.7)

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over a long time period and was judged as the best colour film, it became a victim of the Nazi

Regime and was finally sold to Technicolor. (cf. Dr. Moritz 1995, no page)

Technicolor had a strong impact on the appearance of films and was used until the early 1970s.

(Bordwell/ Thomson 2004)

Another markable point in the history of typography in film is the advertising film “Kreise” (1933)

from Oskar Fischinger. (cf. Pulch 2002, ppp. 19-21)

The movie starts with a typical title card. First the title itself, then the name of the creator and at the

end his technical support. But afterwards a very colourful animation starts. Different circles and

points were jumping and dancing around according to the music. (Ibid.)

He painted every frame of this movie on a paper and recorded it with a film camera. For the colour

he used the Gaspal technic. In the end the letters “Alle Kreise erfasst Toligrad” were included in the

animation, flashing and moving around to the music. (Ibid.)

Starting with type as Typogramm, this advertising ends with an early form of Ikonokinetogramm.

2.4 TITLE DESIGN STUDIOS

While in the beginning every big studio had it's own lettering artist, they started to outsource the

title sequences after World War II. Times had changed and studios like the “Pacific Title and Art

Studio” took over to make trailers, title sequences, special effects, and so on. They had craftsmen

with knowledge about typography, animation, film effects and visual culture.


fig. 4: examples of Kreise (http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PvmbCzO1q48/)

fig. 5: lettering artists at the Pacific Title and Art Studio (Harris 2006, page 126)

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Nevertheless the lettering artists had to pitch several designs for the title sequence to the

production studio, because until the late 60s the studio boss decided about the title design.

(cf. Harris 2006, p.126 / McCort 2002, no page)

Back then, most credits filled the whole »Safe lettering Zone«. Because of different screen sizes or

structural environment it wasn't always possible to see the whole picture in the cinema. To

guarantee, that every letter of the title sequence can be seen, they reduced the title size to the

inner two-thirds of the image.

The diffusion process of televisions in private households reduced the amount of moviegoers. To

fight against this development, hollywood started to produce expensive and opulent films. These

motion picture also needed big, luminous and colourful titles. (cf. Harris 2006, p. 126) One good

examples is HOW THE WEST WAS ONE (1962).

2.5 TITLE DESIGN AS AN ART FORM

In the late 1950s and early 1960s a new generation of filmmakers influenced the film industry

around the world. Grown up in the postwar era, they revolted against their elders in the industry.

While directors like Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Samuel Fuller or Jean-Luc

Godard brought a fresh wind to the film industry, title artists like Saul Bass lead title sequences to

new art form. (cf. Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, page 464)

Saul Bass was the first designer to earn on-screen credit for title design with Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones in 1954. (McCort 2002, no page)

Saul Bass, Pablo Ferro and Maurice Binder created unique title sequences and showed “that titles

could serve as the 'brand essence' of a film“. (McCort 2002, no page).

Prominent features of the composition were the fragmentation and summarisation of the film's

atmosphere. (cf. Pulch 2002, p.22)

Their work leads into the story without showing pictures of the diegesis. Mostly they use some


fig. 7: title sequence of Carmen Jones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1f6tVliME&feature=related)

fig. 6: title sequence of How the West Was Won (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFdjNyi1ZSs )

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kind of animation to bring you in the right mood for the story and answers the question ”What is the

film all about?”.

With titles like the James Bond film DR. NO (1962) which were designed by Maurice Binder or THE

PINK PANTHER (1963) which was designed by Friz Freleng, title sequences became icons of

popular culture in the early 60s. (cf. McCourt 2002, no page)

Admittedly some started to raise high expectations which could not be delivered through the film.

One of those examples is THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960). The opening titles became more

attention than the film and pushed the carrier of the title designer Maurice Binder.

But examples like this lead also to the result that a lot of directors favoured low-key titles.

(cf. McCourt 2002, no page; Stanitzek 2006, p.14)

2.6 THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION

McCourt wrote that it wasn't until the late 1970s that title design caught its next wind – this time resulting from the computer technology revolution. (McCort 2002, no page)

Like the title sequence of SUPERMAN (1978) shows, the ability to create digital images and

animations opens up the possibility to bring the illusion of space and unusual Ikonokinetogramms

into being. This step away from photochemical solutions brought a lot of new possibilities for

typographical design. (McCourt 2002, no page)

Looking at SUPERMAN they digitally visualised background animations, a 3D logo and type – all

together flying through the universe as it would be the most common thing in the world. Letterforms

are changing between 3D and 2D. With their perfection in timing and spacing they create the


fig. 9: title sequence of The Grass is Greener (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/maurice-binder/)

fig. 8: line 1: the iconographic image of James Bond films (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrZcSAPjptQ&feature=related)

line 2: the famous Pink Panther character which also started as title sequence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86znnjhYrq4)

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illusion of starships speeding through galaxy. Also in the background you can find visual effects

which support the experience of the three dimensional space.

In the 1990s the CGI (computer generated image) became more and more important through the

invention of desktop computer tools. For example Adobe After Effects was published in 1993 and

allowed designers to compose title sequences on their computer desktops. This made it much

easier and faster to produce title sequences on the computer. When creating animations you can

immediately see the result of your work. (cf. McCourt 2002, no page)

CGI gives you the chance to do everything you ever wanted with type, there are no restrictions.

Furthermore it is often cheaper than producing “real” material.

In the middle of the 90s Kyle Cooper set another milestone in the history of title sequences. Even

though he used the computer only for post production, his title sequence for SE7EN (1995) was

groundbreaking.

With music from the Nine Inch Nails and a mix of close ups and jerking, handwritten white type on

black background he creates a two minute portrait of a maniac. Later in the film the audience is

able to get the link between the opening titles and the mass murder “John Doe”. (cf. Schaudig

2002, p.178)

The typographic-image which is produced by exchanging the letter V in the film title through the

number “7” doubles the meaning of the title and creates “visual poetry”. (Schaudig 2002, p.171)

Through technical innovations like desktop computer tools and designers like Kyle Cooper title

sequences became much more integrated in the film. Very often they not only set the mood, but


fig. 10: title sequence of Supermann (http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p2.php)

fig. 11: title sequence of Se7en (http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00169-Se7en)

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also lead you into the diegesis. Like SE7EN, nowadays many title sequences take over narrative

parts. (cf. McCourt 2002, no page)

Since directors and editors also have knowledge of animation and editing software, they can be

more precise with their wishes for the title sequence and work closer together with the designers.

(Ibid.) This helps to find the perfect solution for every film.

2.7 RETROSPECTION AND FORECAST

Beside the hugh range of excellent title sequences, one of the most common styles today is to put

an adequate typeface, mostly in white, as Typogramm over an establishing shot. Among a lot of

boring ones there are also a few which catch the audience from the first minute. One example for

this is FORREST GUMP (1994). From the first frame the camera follows a feather which is dancing

around in the air and leads unnoticed into the diegesis. The opening credits end when Tom Hanks

puts up the feather. At this moment this little “symbol” became part of the diegesis. In the end of the

film the feather flies away again and sets in this way a soft end to the film.

Although designers produced a lot of great title sequences in last 100 years, there were always

people who thought that all the credits should be presented at the end of the film or should be

generally left out of the film. In 1979 the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppla abdicated the title

sequence completely in his film APOCALYPSE NOW. (cf. Stanitzek 2006, p.12)

Since then several filmmakers decided to bring just the film titles in the beginning of the film. A

rather new example is Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED (2006). Another example is Steven

Spielberg who did this in some of his films like HOOK (1991), MINORITY REPORT (2002) or THE

TERMINAL (2004).

Some may mention this development as definite hint that the end of title sequences is within

eyeshot, but looking at Steven Spielberg's CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002) makes clear that

filmmakers try to find the best way for their film. Sometimes this might be some kind of filmed pre-

diegesis which gives you the background information you will need to understand the film like in

THE DEPARTED – in other cases like in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN the title sequences with all the

standardised credits visualise what the film is all about.


fig. 12: title sequence of Forrest Gump. If you look over the screenshots you maybe able to follow the feather

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y)

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2.1 LEGAL REGULATION OF CREDITS

Through new technologies there are no limitations any more for the design of title sequences, but

sometimes there are a lot of restrictions for the crediting lines.

Like mentioned earlier, actors have their credit terms usually in the contract, but also some

organisations influence who is mentioned in which way in the title sequence.

Two of the biggest and most recognised unions are the “Directors Guild of America” and the

“Writers Guild of America”. If you have a guild member in your production team, you have to use

their conventions for crediting directors and/or writers in the title sequence.

(q.v.: Directors Guild of America: ARTICLE 8 Directors' Credits Section 8-100 GENERAL

PROVISIONS 8, http.://www.dga.org/contracts/ba2005-finalpdfs/10-ba2005-8.pdf and Writers Guild

of America: Writers Guild of America, West, http://www.wga.org/; for a good abstract of both q.v.:

Hausberger 2006, p.34)


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3. MILESTONES OF SUCCESS

Even thought moviegoers are coming to the cinema because of the film and not because of the title

sequence, some designers won world wide recognition due to their opening titles.

Since we know that every person has his/her own taste concerning their preferences for films just

like for design, it seems rather curious why some opening sequences please so many people, that

you can find them on every The 50 best Titles Sequences list on the internet.

Furthermore, those designers who made landmark achievements are no one-hit-wonders. They

somehow seem to know the recipe for a successful title sequence. Accordingly it makes sense to

take a closer look at those designers to find out more about the reason of their success.

3.1 SAUL BASS (1920 – 1996)

SAUL BASS […] was not only one of the great graphic designers of the mid-20th century but the undisputed master of film title design thanks to his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Martin Scorsese.. (Design Museum no date, no pagehttp://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass))

Bass studied at the “Art Students League” in New York and “Brooklyn College” under an Hungarian

designer who introduced Bass to Bauhaus style and to Russian Constructivism. Subsequent he

worked for several design firms in Manhattan, until he started to work as a freelance graphic

designer. In 1946 he moved to Los Angeles and four years later opened his own studio there.

When Otto Preminger asked him to make the poster for his movie CARMEN JONES (1954), Bass

was already a celebrated graphic designer. The director was so impressed by his poster for the

film, that he offered him to also design the title sequence (see fig.7 in chapter 2.5).

In 1955 the main titles for Otto Preminger's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM established Bass

as the doyen of film title design.(Design Museum no date, no page)

The story is about an addict who gets clean while in prison and then has to go back to his old

social surrounding. The first part of the story is perfectly represented in the title sequence with the

powerful image of the arm and the white lines representing prison bars. The opening titles are a

integral part of the movie.


fig. 13: title sequence of The Man With the Golden Arm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGnpJ_KdqZE)

http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass

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This early title sequence is a perfect example of his distinctive style. He was a master in reducing

the main plot of the film into one or two simple symbols combined with a typographic-image that fits

to the mood of the film. Like Bellantoni and Woolman write in the book “type in motion”:

Saul Bass […] transformed the function of film titles from pragmatic communication to complete mini-narratives which used metaphor to establish the mood and visual character of a film.The signature design methodology of Saul Bass embraced the modernist tenet of reduction and enforced an acute attention to pace, rhythm, and detail. (1999, page 14)

In fig.14 we can see, that it does not matter about which of his title sequences we talk, unerring

Bass always found the perfect reduction for the story. For example in the PSYCHO title sequence

”[…] the vertical bars sweeping across the screen in a manic, mirrored helter-shelter motif[…]. This

staccato sequence is an inspired symbol of Norman Bales' fractured psyche.” (Design Museum no

date, no page)

In NINE HOURS TO RAMA, a film “about the assassination of Mohandas K. Ghandi”, a clock

symbolise his “last hours, minutes and second”.(Bellantoni/ Woolmann 1999, p.19) The Hindi

typographic characters which build a background structure in the very beginning, lead the audience

into the place. At the end close ups from a clockwork transform into wheels of a locomotive which

symbols the unavoidable arriving of the future.

For THE AGE OF INNOCENCE he chose a classic handwritten script for the title and for the

background structure which symbolises romance and erotic. The efflorescent flowers in warm

colours have the same structure as crocheted curtains and symbolise the secret, erotic affair of the

main actors in the plot.

“Martin Scorsese once described his approach as creating: 'an emblematic image, instantly

recognised and immediately tied to the film.'“ (Design Museum no date, no page)

Assisted by his second wife, Elaine, Bass created over 50 title sequences during his life time. “His

New York Times obituary hailed him as 'the minimalist auteur who put a jagged arm in motion in 1955 and

created an entire film genre…and elevated it into an art.'" (Design Museum no date, no page)


fig. 14: various title sequences created by Saul Bass (North by Northwest ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jIlqatMQSgI&feature=related); The Age of Innocence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNMl8Kcjqw&feature=related);

Anatomy of a Murder (Bellantoni/ Woolman 199, p.14); Psycho (Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.16); Nine Hours to Rama

(Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.18)

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3.2 PABLO FERRO (1935)

“After graduating from Manhattan's High School of Industrial Art, Ferro began working at Atlas

Comics in 1951 as an inker and artist in the EG-horror tradition.” (Heller 1999, no page) At “UPA”

he started to learn animating cartoons one year later.

In the following years he worked for commercial studios like “Academy Pictures”, “Elektra Films”

and “Bill Stern Studios” and finally founded the creative production studio Ferro Mogubgub

Schwartz in 1961. (cf. Heller 1999, no page)

His film title design debut was 1964 for Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I

LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB. It is a black comedy about a US

general, called Jack D. Ripper, who wants to attack the UDSSR with an A-Bomb.

The Credits are handwritten with various script sizes so that they always fit the full screen size.

They are presented over official stock footage of B-52's with refuelling capabilities.

Little did the military know that in Mr. Ferro's hands, the B-52's tethered to their refuelling ships, bouncing lightly up and down and paired with the song 'Try a Little Tenderness,' would come out as a comic sex scene.” (Boxer 2000, no page)

In the same year he moved to London and founded his own firm “Pablo Ferro Films”.

At that time Bass had already established the “film- within-a-film concept that grace title sequences

momentary independence while serving the practical needs of motion picture.” (Heller 1999, no

page), but Ferro's style is totally different. Besides his famous sequence for DR. STRANGELOVE

he did a lot of other remarkable and innovative title sequences. Some of those are the opening

titles for WOMAN OF STRAW (1964), THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE

COMING (1966) and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968).

For the first one he worked with “high contrast film that reduced all middle-tones to solid black

which he than bathed through red filter.”(Heller 1999, no page) He used overlays and zoomed the

images from close up to panorama and back. This creates spatial depth even thought the images

are two dimensional and look like stencil art. He uses just three different symbols: a woman, a man

and a wheel chair, which explain the whole story: The nephew of the old, rich, wheelchair using

tyrant Charles Richmond wants to get his uncles money with the help of a beautiful nurse.


fig. 15: title sequence of Dr. Strangelove (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/ )

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The second one is a comedy playing in the Cold War. Therefore Ferro created a title sequence in

which the American and the Soviet flag are fighting against each other to occupy the screen. For

the title he used a Russian font in which the 'R' is reversed, and exchange the 'G' with a a hammer

and a sickle. (cf. Heller 1999, no page)

The last one is a very special title sequence, because Ferro “introduced multi-screen effects for the

first time in any feature motion picture and defined a cinematic style of the late 1960s.”(Heller

1999, no page). He worked before with this technic in some of his commercials which was also the

reason why director Jewison wanted Ferro as title designer. As they recognised that the film is

much too long, Ferro also edited some scenes of the film this way to speed up the narration flow

without cutting something out. Through multi-screen it was possible to shorten 6 minutes to 40

seconds. (cf. Heller 1999, no page)

During his life Ferro invented several new technics (for example the kinetic quick-cut method) and

worked as director, editor, producer, animator, illustrator, graphic designer and title designer.


fig. 17: title sequence of The Russians are Coming, The Russians are coming ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=XBOQdkIu6fM)

fig. 18: title sequence of The Thomas Crown Affair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOxWtuIuR1g)

fig. 16: title sequence of Woman of Straw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ME-vffKIs&feature=related )

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3.3. KYLE COOPER (1968)

What I think makes a great title is the fact that it dovetails seamlessly into the film proper- a great title sequence sets an expectation.[…] you forget about everything else and you don't want to be anywhere

else but right here at this moment and it gets you excited. (Kyle Cooper interview pt. ½ 2010, timecode: 00:55 – 01:15)

Kyle Cooper earned the title “Royal Designer for Industry” from the “Royal Society of Arts in

London” and then went on to the “Yale School of Art” where he achieved the M.F.A. in Graphic

Design. (Title Design Project. no date, no page)

After graduating from Yale, Kyle Cooper began at “R/Greenberg Associates” in New York as

graphic designer. There he got involved in title design. Some years later he relocated to Los

Angeles, opened R/Greenberg's LA office and worked there as Creative Director. (Title Design

Project. no date, no page)

In the new studio, with the new position and away from the mother company he was the first time

allowed to set his name under his title sequences. Already his first “own” main title for SE7EN, was

groundbreaking and made him famous around the world. (Title Design Project. no date, no page)

Before that he had created about 40 title sequences under the name of R\Greenberg.

In 1996 he went on to co-found “Imaginary Forces” and afterwards founded “Prologue Films” in

2003. Today Prologue works on main title design, but also does motion graphics as well as game

and interactive design. Additionally they make visual effects for film, TV and other media. (cf.

Forget the film watch the title. no date, no page)

In an interview on www.watchthetitles.com Kyle Cooper stated that before he starts with a title

sequence, he does a lot of research about about the topic of the movie. Every film is unique and

needs an individual style. In his opinion the writing can support the story and therefore it should be

added to the overall tone of the film.

Even tough he uses computer graphics (CG), he prefers handmade things because they have

something imperfect. There is always coincidence included, you can't predict how something will

break or burn. From there also the title sequence of SE7EN was filmed and the typography was

scratched on film. (cf. Kyle Cooper interview pt. ½ 2010)

Except SE7EN, also his title sequences for MIMIC (1997) and DONNIE BRASCO (1997) underline

his preference for the handmade style.


Fig. 19: title sequence of Mimic ( mimichttp://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/)

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3.4 COMPARISON

Apart from the three designers mentioned above, there are some more famous names. For

example Maurice Binder (1925 – 1991) who did most of the James Bond title sequences or Wayne

Fitzgerald (1930) who created over 450 main titles for motion pictures and TV productions during

his life, including such famous examples as BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967).

All of them started as graphic designers or illustrators, an art discipline where it is necessary to be

creative, to find your own style and to be innovative. Furthermore, a graphic designer has to deliver

the whole message on one poster or flyer.

A title designer needs the same abilities. You have to represent a whole story in about three

minutes. The style of the opening sequence should fit to the film, but also should be unique. Even

though Saul Bass and Maurice Binder lived rather in the same era, their styles where wholly

different.

The last step to groundbreaking sequences is the innovation. Saul Bass created the first film-

within-a-film title sequence for CARMEN JONES, Pablo Ferro brought a new technology into

motion pictures with his multi-screen technique for THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR and Kyle

Cooper took over a narrative part of the film with his title sequence for SE7EN without showing any

scenes from film.

After all a title sequence does not depend on the designer alone. The craftsman rely on “the mercy

of the budget, studio, producer, and director”.(Heller 1999, no page) Also time and legal

regulations, like those of the “Directors Guild of America”, influence the making of opening titles.


fig. 20: title sequence of Donnie Brasco (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/)

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4. THE LINK BETWEEN GENRE AND TITLE SEQUENCEMost cinema genres and subgenres become established when one film becomes successful and is widely imitated (Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p.115).

The special iconography, symbolic image, of a genre is always dynamic. Every filmmaker tries to

play with these conventions in order to create something new. This makes it very difficult to put

some films into genres.(cf. Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p.115)

However, movies of the same genre have something in common. This might be key elements of

the plot, main characters, the plot or they way they are cut. But is it also possible to find those

specific elements in a title sequence?

As mentioned in the beginning, title sequences try to lead the audience into the diegesis of the film.

To get the audience in the right mood, they also have to expose the genre.

To go further in the topic, we have to find out if a title sequence abandons the genre of the film

trough individual techniques or are there some elements which are used to introduce for example a

romance or a horror movie?

4.1 PREPARING THE ANALYSIS

Before we can answer these questions, it is necessary to talk about the key elements of title

sequences, which are: combining credits and pictures, combining title sequences and diegesis as

well as the usage of typefaces, colours and methods.

4.1.1 TYPFACES

The art of typography is to find the perfect font for your purpose and message. While the

word-image is always similar when you use the same letters, the typographic-image of a word

changes with every font.

With a higher font size also the emotional effect increases. (cf. Kupferschmied 2003) Typically the

lettering size in title sequences is rather large, so that the audience can easily read the information

and can get a feeling for the following content.


fig. 21: Attention, railroad crossing" information sign in two different fonts (Kupferschmied 2003, p.28)

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The history of typography is nearly as long as the history of mankind. Through technical progress

and a plurality of stylistic periods an unmanageable mass of fonts have been developed.

When we look at the impression of a typeface, it is useful to concentrate on the principles of form,

the contrast between the strokes and on the existence of serifs. Fonts with similarities in these

three characteristics raise analogous associations and we can use them to divide fonts into

categories. (cf. Kupferschmied 2003, p 45)

Looking at fig. 22 we can intuitively recognise that:

• Types with dynam ic principles of form come across as likeable, alternative, open, natural,

informal, warm-hearted, casual, invitational and ageless.(Kupferschmied 2003, p46)

• Types with static principles of form and with serifs appear as cold, expensive, neutral,

noble, modish, elegant, female, classic and formal.(Kupferschmied 2003, p46)

• Types with static principles of form and sans serifs seem to be male, simple, politically

correct, rugged, authentic, objective, strong and solid.(Kupferschmied 2003, p46)

• Types with geometric principles of form come across as constructivism, modern,

rational, systematical, neutral, reduced, guarded, democratic and social. Their style

reminds of the 1920s.(Kupferschmied 2003, p46)

• Types without contrast between the strokes, but with serifs and decorative principles of

form can have different effects. For example if all horizontals, and along with them also all

serifs, are bold while the verticals are thin, the typeface seems like those of western films

and “Wanted-Posters”.(Kupferschmied 2003, p46)


fig. 22: font categorisation (cf. Kupferschmied 2003, p.32 )

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Fonts which are handwritten or look like handwritten are more difficult to divide into groups. For

my analysis I decided for my analysis to distinguish them into two big groups.

• I called the first group I call brush script, because this fonts look like written with a brush or

a pen. They appear as simple, fast, cheap, casual and maybe they tell something about

the character of the writer.

• The second group is called classic script, and includes all fonts which appear like written

with a nib from someone with a lot of patience and love. It comes across as nobel, classic,

traditional, expensive and worthwhile.

Another important group of fonts are the dirty fonts. They have decorative principles of form and

appear as wild, revolutionary, cheeky, mad, grungy and young. The significant characteristic for this

category is the destroyed or scratched letterform. They look like a “dirty” or inferior print.

The group of broken fonts is not discussed here, because they have no relevance for this analysis.


fig. 24: classic script examples (Schneider 2010)

fig. 25: dirty fonts examples (Schneider 2010)

fig. 23: brush script examples (Schneider 2010)

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4.1.2 COLOUR

It is nothing new that we associate a colour with a special feeling or groups of products. Figure 26

shows a quick overview of positive and negative associations with the most common colours.

(Following figure is just true for the western culture.)

It seems obvious that this associations also influence how we interpret a title sequence and

therefore a title designer has to be aware of which colour he or she chooses. That implies that also

the colour selection can tell us something about the genre of the upcoming film.


fig. 26: the positive and negative associations with colours in the western culture (cf. Computer Arts Magazine 120, page

92)

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4.1.3 METHODE

As mentioned in chapter 2, in the beginning of the title sequence history it was common to use just

white type over black images, mostly because of technical reasons. But nowadays we have a huge

range of technical possibilities when designing a title sequence, which I chose to divide into:

• Motion Graphics (2D and 3D animations)

• Mixed Media (mixing up 2D/3D graphics/animations with real footage (images or film))

• Live-action film (real footage)

4.1.4 COMBINING CREDITS AND PICTURES

Besides the way a word is written there is also another important thing about typography. The way

it is included in the scene. There we can divide into five different groups of visualising credits in a

title sequence :

• Credits as Typogramm: This category covers all title sequences in which the two-

dimensional credits are presented over any kind of background image. Especially the

classic main titles with white writing over black background are part of this categories. (cf.

Schaudig 2002, pp.173-174)

• Credits as Typokinetogramm: The lettering is still represented on a two-dimensional

surface, but it is in motion. With the moment you start to animate typography, you also

stage-manage it. This boosts the connection between text and cinematographic action. (cf.

Schaudig 2002, pp.173-174)

• Credits as Iconogramm: Like in the advertising for “Admiral Cigarette” the written

information is included in the three-dimensional room of the scene. The “world” in which

the typography is included, helps to bring the message across and

transforms the letters into some kind of iconography. In figure 27 you

can see the title of the film ARLINGTON ROAD (1999) which is a

classical Iconogramm. (cf. Schaudig 2002, pp.173-174)

• Credits as Iconokinetogramm:The writing is animated within the

three-dimensional room of the scene. The combination of integration in the scene and

movement puts not only an iconographic image to the word, through the movement it tells

its own story and uses all means of expressions of the cinematographic medium. (cf.

Schaudig 2002, pp.173-174)

• Credits as Dialog: Like mentioned in chapter 2, there are also films like LE MÉPRIS which

uses a narrator who speaks the credits.


fig. 27: title sequence of Arlington Road

(http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/cat

egory/entertainment/watch/v629517042c

y2pJC)

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Nevertheless we have to accept that most title sequences are a combination of two of these

categories. The most common combinations are Iconokinetrogramm with Typogramm.

LOLA RENNT (1998) even uses three of the categories mentioned above (see figure 28).

4.1.5 COMBINING CREDITS AND DIEGESIS

The alliance between credits and diegesis is an important part when talking about title sequences.

Like mentioned in chapter two there are many ways in which the text and the upcoming film can be

combined. For this aspect I use the same three categories as Allison (2006, p.90):

1. The title sequence shows a “room” which isn't necessarily part of the diegesis. In this

category we add all those main titles which make use of animated backgrounds, black

backgrounds or images where the audience does not know if they are a part of the story

or not.

2. The title sequence is definitely placed in the “room” of the diegesis. The most common

opening titles for this category are those who present the credits over the establishing

shot of the film. But also those sequences which integrate the titles in the scene are

included here.

3. There is an interaction between actors and the credits.

Especially in the comedy and comedy romance genre we can find such examples. I

LOVE MELVIN (1953) is an old but famous example for this category.


fig. 28: title sequence of Lola Rennt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkCoJu6o_k&feature=related)

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4.2 THE ANALYSIS

For this analysis I chose the three most popular film genres. First title sequences of several

classical genre films were analysed and then compared with some outstanding sequences of the

same category.

4.2.1 ROMANCE

This chapter includes comedy romances, drama romances and excludes teenage films.

Romance is a very old genre, typically preferred by woman. Therefore such films are also called

woman films.

Already the title artist of the Title and Art Studio took a classic script when designing opening

credits for a romantic movie. This typeface stands for noble, traditional, expensive and worthwhile.

(cf. Harris 2006, p.126) Generally we can say it is a typical female handwriting. Seeing such a

typeface at the beginning of the movie is even today a classical sign for a film about love. A well

known example is DIRTY DANCING (1987)

Furthermore we can say that a lot of classic Hollywood romances have static principles of form

with contrast between strokes. Very often credits are designed as white Typogramm included in

real footage. Most of those films are supported by a passionate and optimistic music.

However, especially in the last 10 years also white sans serif type without contrast between strokes

has become an accepted typeface for those films (e.g. WIMBELDON (2004)). But romances

opening with this kind of type are in nearly all cases modern romantic comedies. Examples of

forefathers of this style are MY MAN GODFREY (1936) and MANHATTEN(1978). These romantic

comedies use white Ikinokinetogramms without serifs. The credits are represented in form of

blinking roadside billboards in the scene.


fig. 30: title sequence of My Man Godfrey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkIru_OvC4)

fig. 31: title sequence of Manhatten (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8)

fig. 29: title sequence of Dirty Dancing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5YSFO0PwRA)

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During the analysis of several romantic movies like CASABLANCA (1942), THE AGE OF

INNOCENCE (1993) or TWO WEEK NOTICE (2002) it became clear that show text over images

which directly refer to the story is a common thing in this genre. But more often they write the

credits over the establishing shot of the diegesis. Pre-action-title-sequences, in which the main

characters are introduced, are also a popular stylistic device. Famous examples of those films are

PRETTY WOMAN (1990), CITY OF ANGELS (1998) and THE HOLIDAY (2006).

Like mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, the genre is not always that clear as in the above

mentioned examples. Therefore I looked at films which are placed in two or more genres to find out

how those films transport the topic love and passion.

A good example is BONNIE AND CLYDE(1967), a film about love, crime and revolution. All three

attributes have something to do with passion – a main catchword also for romances – and even

though the film is neither a woman film nor a classic romance it refers to those genre standards. A

white, serif Typogramm with contrast between the strokes over images that tell the pre-diegesis of

the movie. Still the opening sequence leave no doubt that this is not a classic romance. The letters

turning red like getting flooded with blood. At the same time as this red colour reveals the images

of blood and danger it also stands for passion and tragedy. It doesn't prepare you for a happy

ending.

4.2.2 ACTION

In this genre I include all films which are based on the principle of physical action, in opposite to

the romance genre which is based on dialogues. In those films a hero who rescues the world or at

least the life of innocent. Mostly there is also a woman involved and the side plot is about her and

the hero. Like the romance genre they have mostly happy endings and are rather man films.

Therefore this films always have to be very cool, hard, fast and powerful.

While the title sequences of romance mostly use real footage, action films definitely prefer motion

graphics. Even in rather old examples like DR. NO we can find text as Typokinetogramm, some

kind of animation and classical red blood flooding the foreground of the screen. A rather new


fig. 32: title sequence of Bonnie and Clyde (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/30/bonnie-and-clyde/)

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example is IRON MAN (2008).

The Typokinetogramm can be accepted as the usual way lettering is included in the title sequences

of action movies. In the same way we can generalise that in action movies the main titles are

highlighted by a cool, driving and often also fast music.

When looking at the colour of those opening sequences we recognise that the most popular

colours are white, yellow, red, blue and black. Specially the credits are often written in white and

red or white and blue. Like mentioned earlier red stands for blood, passion, war, danger and

therefore represents the heros great efforts to reach a happy ending.

Specially in films like SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006), SPIDERMAN (2002) or TERMINATOR

(1984), where the heroes have some kind of superpowers, the title of the film is written in blue.

This colour represents the heroes character as intelligent, efficient and peaceful (even thought he

often has to be violent, although he never wants to be – but he has to rescue the world).

The yellow colour which is particularly common in action movies which are about time and speed,

represents sympathy, action, fun and is very driving. Therefore actions films about cars like GONE

IN 60 SECONDS(2000) and THE FAST AND THE FUROUS (2001) use this colour.

Furthermore it is remarkable that action movies often have a sans serif, italic (the letters pitch to the right

side) typeface. Taking an italic font also gives the reader the feeling of speed and fast action.

Another aspect is the connection between the plot and title sequence. While looking up most

famous action movies it turned out that they prefer to use some images which refer to the diegesis

of the film but they are not really part of the story. In films like SPIDERMAN(2002) or BLADE

(1998) they use close-ups from the hero to introduce the main person. But not until the end of the

opening credits you can see the full shot of the hero.


fig. 33: title sequence of Iron Man (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/05/10/iron-man/)

fig. 34: title sequence of Gone in 60 Seconds ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKeFR1q4FU&feature=related ) and the

title sequence of The Fast and the furious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv9Hxuq7W5I)

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4.2.3. THRILLER/ HORROR

In this genre the hero hast to fight against maniacs, monsters and mutants. The aim of those films

is to bring fear and terror to the audience. Usually they are full of blood, have sudden turns in the

story and show physical and psychical violence.

A remarkable connection between films in this genre are the tendency to choose a cold green

colour (sometimes turning a little bit in a cold blue direction). Examples for this are HOLLOW

MAN(2000), PANIC ROOM (2004) and SAW II (2005).

The red colour is in most cases just used to symbolise blood which plays a rather important role in

many of those films. Generally these sequences are rather dark, therefore using a lot of black.

The atmosphere in this motion picture is very cold, uncomfortable and frighting. This isn't only

reached through the colour, also the music takes over a lot of the frightening part.

In many of those films flashing images are used to stress the audience and put up the adrenalin

level. Famous examples for this technic are MIMIC (1997), THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU

(remake) (1996), PI(1998) and DAWN OF DEAD(2004).

Mostly those title sequences are produced with mixed media. They use a lot of real photos

combined with animated credits.

Writing is mostly represented as Typokinetogramm using white (like mentioned, often combined

with green), sans serif type as in PSYCHO and SE7EN. Still the titles are often designed as real

logos and therefore have their own typeface such as THE DEAD ZONE (1983).


fig. 36: title sequence of The Island of Dr. Moreau (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/10/the-island-of-dr-moreau/)

fig. 35: title sequence of Hollow Man (http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p1.php ), Panic

Room (http://www.forevergeek.com/2009/04/best_movie_title_intro_sequences/ ) and Saw II

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-yB9iPq7vE)

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4.3 RESULT

A genre is easier to recognize than to define. (Bordwell/ Thomson 2004, p.108)

This quotation is not only true for defining the genre of a film, it is also true for finding special genre

elements in a title sequence.

The previous analysis showed that there is definitely a link between title sequence and genre, but it

is not as obvious as one might expect. Especially when looking at positively outstanding title

sequences, the genre is more allusively introduced.

An example for such an superior sequence is HOSTAGE(2002). For the 3D graphics Laurent Brett

just used red and shades of grey. The camera flies through a virtual city, on one hand to present

the credits, which are included in the scene as Ikonogramm, and on the other hand to introduce the

places where the real action will take place. Policemen and sharp shooters are standing around in

this 3D world and combined with the music, these images create a feeling of anxiety.

Still we can say that there are strong hints for the genre in every title sequence. We can't state that

title sequences of the same genre deal with the exact same stylistic method, but there are

frequently used elements for each film category.

• In romances these are white, classic handwriting or classic script, positive music and the

usage of pre-action-title-sequences to introduce the main actors is common.

• Action movies often use a warm colour spectrum, motion graphics for the opening

sequence and show a tendency to italic typefaces.

• Horror movies and thrillers usually are very dark, use a cold colour spectrum and mixed

media techniques to present fast flashing photography. In addition they frequently use

frightening music.


fig. 37: title sequence of Hostage (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/02/28/hostage/)

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5. CONCLUSION

Even thought title sequences are mostly no longer than three minutes, it is a very large topic. Every

time when I tried to focus on one detail, I had to recognise that this detail has multiple aspects and

turns into an own big topic.

However, as I mapped the terrain for this thesis I decided to focus on topics which might be useful

for those who start to do their own title sequences and need some kind of inspiration. Therefore I

tried to work out standards for good main titles on the one hand and to show groundbreaking

sequences on the other hand. Nevertheless I could not show ALL generous examples which I

found during my research. One of those which doesn't fit in any chapter but has to be mentioned

anyway is LORD OF WAR (2005).

This title sequence is the perfect film-within-a-film example. It doesn't only show what the film is all

about and presents the pre-diegesis, this sequence could perfectly stand for its own as a short film.

For everyone who want's to get more information about title sequences of all kinds of motion

picture, TV Series or outstanding independent projects, I can recommend to visit the websites “Art

of the Title Sequence” (http://www.artofthetitle.com/) and “Forget the Film watch the Title”

(http://www.watchthetitles.com/).


fig. 38: title sequence of Lord of War (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/08/15/lord-of-war/)

Medientechnik

REFERENCES

LIST OF LITERATURE

Allison, D. (2006). Innovative Vorspanne und Reflexivität im klassichen Hollywoodkino. In:Böhnke,

A./ Hüser, R./ Stanitzek, G. (Eds.) (2006). Das Buch zum Vorspann. The Title Is A Shot.

Berlin: Vorwerk8, p.90-101

Böhnke, A./ Hüser, R./ Stanitzek, G. (Eds.) (2006). Das Buch zum Vorspann. The Title Is A Shot.

Berlin: Vorwerk8

Bellantoni, J./ Woolman, M. (1999). type in motion. innovations in digital graphics.

United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson

Bordwell, D./ Thomson, K. (2004). Film Art: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill

Computer Arts Project 120 (). Colour associations. England: Future Publishing Limited, p. 92

Friedrich, H.-E./ Jung, U. (Eds.) (2002). Schrift und Bild im Film. Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag

Harris, A.D. (2006). Das goldene Zeitalter des Filmvorspanns: Die Geschichte des »Pacific Title

and Art Studios«. In:Böhnke, A./ Hüser, R./ Stanitzek, G. (Eds.) (2006). Das Buch zum

Vorspann. The Title Is A Shot. Berlin: Vorwerk8, p.123-133

Hausberger, F. (2006). Main Titles – Titelsequenzen im Film: Eine analytische Katgorisierung.

Diplomarbeit: Hagenberg

Kupferschmied, I. (2003). Buchstaben kommen selten allein. Ein typographisches Handbuch.

Sulgen/Zürich: Verlag Niggli AG

Pulch, H. (2002). type in motion. Schrift in Bewegung. In: Friedrich, H./ Jung, U. (Eds.) (2002).

Schrift und Bild im Film. Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, p.13-31

Schaudig, M. (2002) Flying Logos in Typosphere. Eine kleine Phänomenologie des graphischen

Titeldesigns filmischer Credits. In: Friedrich, H./ Jung, U. (Eds.) (2002). Schrift und Bild im

Film. Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, p.163-183

Stanitzek, G. (2006) Vorspann. (titles/ credits, générique). In:Böhnke, A./ Hüser, R./ Stanitzek, G.

(Eds.) (2006). Das Buch zum Vorspann. The Title Is A Shot. Berlin: Vorwerk8, p.8-21

Wölfflin, H. (1950). Principles of Art History. New York: Dover Publications


Medientechnik

INTERNET REFERENCES

Böhnke, A./ Hüser,R. (2002). Filmtitel – Titelfilme

[URL, http://www.kw-berlin.com/english/archiv/bedvl.html (accessed: 18. 04. 10)]

Design Museum (Londond). (no date). Saul Bass. Graphic Designer (1920-1996).

[URL, http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass (accessed: 11. 06. 10)]

Forget the film watch the title (no date). Kyle Cooper,

[URL, http://www.watchthetitles.com/designers/Kyle_Cooper (accessed: 12. 06. 10)]

Heller, S. (1999). Quick Cuts, Coarse Letters, Multiple Screens.

[URL, http://www.typotheque.com/site/article.php?id=48 (accessed: 11.06.10) ]

Kyle Cooper interview pt. ½ (2010). Forget the film watch the title. [URL,

watchthetitles.com/articles/00170 -Kyle_Cooper_interview_pt_1_2 Kyle Cooper interview

pt. ½ (accessed: 10. 05. 10)]

McCort, K. (2002). Titles Through Time [URL,

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_titles_throughout_time/ (accessed: 28.04.10)]

Moritz, Dr. W. (1995). Gasparcolor: Perfect Hues for Animation.

[URL, http://www.oskarfischinger.org/GasparColor.html (accessed: 17.05.10) ]

Title Design Project (no date). Kyle Cooper.

[URL, http://www.titledesignproject.com/kyle-cooper (accessed: 12. 06. 10) ]

INTERNET REFERENCES FOR FILMS

Arlington Road (1999). Mark Pellington. Screen Gems. [URL,

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v629517042cy2pJC

(accessed: 22. 05. 10)]

Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Arthur Penn. Tatira Hiller Productions. [URL,

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/30/bonnie-and-clyde/) (accessed: 15. 06. 10)]


Medientechnik

Carmen Jones (1954). Otto Preminger. Carlyle Productions [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=SJ1f6tVliME&feature=related (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

Casandras Dream (2007). Woody Allen. Iberville Productions. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XcA8XsJVms (accessed: 25.05. 10)]

Dirty Dancing (1987). Emile Ardolino. Great American Films Limited Partnership/ Vestron Pictures.

[URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5YSFO0PwRA (accessed: 13. 06. 10)]

Donnie Brasco (1997). Mike Newell. TriStar Pictures. [URL, http://www.gestaltung.hs-

mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/ (accessed: 14. 06. 10)]

Dr. No (1962). Terence Young. Eon Productions. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=UrZcSAPjptQ&feature=related (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Bomb (1964). Stanley Kubrick.

Columbia Pictures Corporation. [URL, http://www.gestaltung.hs-


Forrest Gump (1994). Robert Zemeckis. Paramount Pictures. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y (accessed: 21. 05. 10)]

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000). Dominic Sena. Touchstone Pictures. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKeFR1q4FU&feature=related (accessed: 15. 06. 10)]

Hollow Man (2000). Paul Verhoeven. Columbia Pictures Corporation. [URL,

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p1.php) (accessed: 15. 06.

10)]

Hostage (2002). John Woo. Miramax Films. [URL,

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/02/28/hostage/ (accessed: 16. 06. 10)]

How the West was Won (1962). John Fors. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFdjNyi1ZSs (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

Iron Man (2008). John Farreon. Paramount Pictures. [URL,

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/05/10/iron-man/ (accessed: 15. 06. 10)]

Kreise (1933). Oskar Fischinger. Fischinger Studio. [URL,


Medientechnik

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PvmbCzO1q48/ (accessed: 28. 04. 10)]

Le Mépris (1963). Jean-Luc Godard. Les Films Concordia. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=v_m85eoa-8s (accessed: 15. 04. 10)]

Lola Rennt (1998). Tom Tykwer. X-Filme Creative Pool. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=BDkCoJu6o_k&feature=related (accessed: 23. 05. 10)]

Lord of War (2005). Andrew Niccol. Entertainment Manufactoring Company. [URL,

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/08/15/lord-of-war/ (accessed: 12. 06. 10)]

Manhattan (1978). Woody Allen. Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8 (accessed: 05. 05. 10)]

Mimic (1997). Guillermo del Torro. Dimension Films. [URL, http://www.gestaltung.hs-


My Man Goldfrey (1936). Gregory La Cava. Universal Pictures. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkIru_OvC4) (accessed: 04. 05. 10)]

North by Northwest (1959). Alfred Hitchcock. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI&feature=related (accessed: 11.06. 10)]

Panic Room (2004). David Fincher. Columbia Pictures Corporation. [URL,

http://www.forevergeek.com/2009/04/best_movie_title_intro_sequences/ (accessed: 15. 06.

10)]

Saw II (2005). Darren Lynn Bousman. Twisted Pictures. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-

yB9iPq7vE (accessed: 14. 06. 10)]

Se7en (1995). David Fincher. New Line Cinema. [URL,

http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00169-Se7en (accessed: 14. 06. 10)]

Sleeper (1973). Woody Allen. Rollins-Joffe Productions. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=t1shIHF0KJs (accessed: 25. 05. 10)]

Superman (1978). Richard Donner. Alexander Salkind. [URL,

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p2.php (accessed: 29. 05.

10)]


Medientechnik

The Age of Innocence (1993). Martin Scorsese. Cappa Production. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNMl8Kcjqw&feature=related (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

The Fast and the Furious (2001). Rob Cohen. Universal Pictures. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv9Hxuq7W5I (accessed: 16. 06. 10)]

The Grass is Greener (1960). Stanley Donen. Grandon Productions Ltd.. [URL,

http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/maurice-binder/ (accessed: 17. 04. 10)]

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996). John Frankenheimer. New Line Cinema. [URL,

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/10/the-island-of-dr-moreau/ (accessed: 15. 06. 10)]

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Otto Preminger. Otto Preminger Films. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGnpJ_KdqZE (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

The Pink Panther (1963). Blake Edwards. Mirisch Corporation. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86znnjhYrq4 (accessed: 29. 05. 10)]

The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966). Norman Jewison. Mirisch

Corporation. [URL, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBOQdkIu6fM (accessed: 11. 06.

10)]

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Norman Jewison. United Artists. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOxWtuIuR1g (accessed: 11. 06. 10)]

Woman of Straw (1964). Basil Dearden. Michael Relph Productions. [URL,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ME-vffKIs&feature=related (accessed: 11. 06. 10)]

ATTENTION: On the attributive CD you can find screenshots of all internet references.

Quoted articles are additionally saved as word documents on the CD. All screenshots

and word documents are named after the TITLE of the source so you can find them

easily.


Medientechnik

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: picture 1-3: the title Sequence of Sleeper (1973); ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1shIHF0KJs)

picture 4-6: title sequence of Casandras Dreams (2007) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XcA8XsJVms)...........5

Figure 2: title sequence of Le Mépris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_m85eoa-8s) .................................. 6

Figure 3: title sequence of King Kong (Bellantoni/ Wollman 1999, p.7) ........................................................ 6

Figure 4: examples of Kreise (http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PvmbCzO1q48/) .....................................7

Figure 5: lettering artists at the Pacific Title and Art Studio (Harris 2006, page 126) ........................................7

Figure 6: title sequence of How the West Was Won (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFdjNyi1ZSs)................8

Figure 7: title sequence of Carmen Jones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1f6tVliME&feature=related) ........8

Figure 8: line 1: the iconographic image of James Bond films (http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=UrZcSAPjptQ&feature=related); line 2: the famous Pink Panther character which also started as title sequence

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86znnjhYrq4) ..................................................................................... 9

Figure 9: title sequence of The Grass is Greener (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/maurice-binder/ ) 9

Figure 10: title sequence of Supermann (http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p2.php)

.................................................................................................................................................. 10

Figure 11: title sequence of Se7en (http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00169-Se7en) ................................10

Figure 12: title sequence of Forrest Gump. If you see over the screenshot you maybe able to follow the feather

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y).................................................................................... 11

Figure 13: title sequence of The Man With the Golden Arm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGnpJ_KdqZE) ....13

Figure 14: various title sequences created by Saul Bass (North by Northwest ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jIlqatMQSgI&feature=related); The Age of Innocence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNMl8Kcjqw&feature=related);

Anatomy of a Murder (Bellantoni/ Woolman 199, p.14); Psycho (Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.16); Nine Hours to Rama

(Bellantoni/ Woolman 1999, p.18)........................................................................................................ 14

Figure 15: title sequence of Dr. Strangelove (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/ ).....15

Figure 16: title sequence of Woman of Straw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ME-vffKIs&feature=related )....15

Figure 17: title sequence of The Russians are Coming, The Russians are coming ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=XBOQdkIu6fM)............................................................................................................................ 16

Figure 18: title sequence of The Thomas Crown Affair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOxWtuIuR1g )...........16

Figure 19: title sequence of Mimic (http://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/) ..................18

Figure 20: title sequence of Donnie Brasco (ttp://www.gestaltung.hs-mannheim.de/designwiki/kyle-cooper/) ........18

Figure 21: Attention, railroad crossing" information sign in two different fonts (Kupferschmied 2003, p.28) ...........19

Figure 22: font categorisation (cf. Kupferschmied 2003, p.32) .................................................................. 20

Figure 23: brush script examples (Schneider 2010)............................................................................... 21

Figure 24: classic script examples (Schneider 2010)............................................................................. 21

Figure 25: dirty fonts examples (Schneider 2010)................................................................................. 21

Figure 26: the positive and negative associations with colours in the western culture (cf. Computer Arts Project 120, page

92).............................................................................................................................................. 22

Figure 27: title sequence of Arlington Road


Medientechnik

(http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v629517042cy2pJC) ...................................23

Figure 28: title sequence of Lola Rennt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkCoJu6o_k&feature=related) ........23

Figure 29: title sequence of Dirty Dancing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5YSFO0PwRA) .........................25

Figure 30: title sequence of My Man Godfrey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkIru_OvC4) .......................25

Figure 31: title sequence of Manhatten (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8) ................................. 25

Figure 32: title sequence of Bonnie and Clyde (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/30/bonnie-and-clyde/) ..........26

Figure 33: title sequence of Iron Man (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/05/10/iron-man/) ...............................27

Figure 34: title sequence of Gone in 60 Seconds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKeFR1q4FU&feature=related )

and the title sequence of The Fast and the furious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv9Hxuq7W5I) ....................27

Figure 35: title sequence of Hollow Man (http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/best-title-sequences-p1.php ),

Panic Room (http://www.forevergeek.com/2009/04/best_movie_title_intro_sequences/ ) and Saw II

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-yB9iPq7vE)............................................................................................................28

Figure 36: title sequence of The Island of Dr. Moreau (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/10/the-island-of-dr-moreau/)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 37: title sequence of Hostage (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/02/28/hostage/) .................................29

Figure 38: title sequence of Lord of War (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/08/15/lord-of-war/) .........................30


Medientechnik

APPENDIX A

LIST OF FILMS

title directed by title design year country

Anatomy of a Murder Otto Preminger Saul Bass 1959 USA

Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppla - 1979 USA

Arlington Road Mark Pellington Kyle Cooper 1999 USA

Blade Guillermo del Torro Imaginary Forces 1998 USA

Bonnie and Clyde Arthur Penn Wayne Fritzgerald 1967 USA

Carmen Jones Otto Preminger Saul Bass 1954 USA

Casablanca Michael Curtis - 1942 USA

Casandras Dreams Woody Allen - 2007 USA

Catch me if you can Steven Spielberg Florence Deygas 2002 USA

City of Angels Brad Silberling - 1998 USA

Dawn of Dead Zack Snyder Kyle Cooper 2004 USA

Der Student von Prag Stellan Rye - 1913 USA

Dirty Dancing Emile Ardolino - 1987 USA

Donnie Brasco Mike Newell Kyle Cooper 1997 USA

Dr. No Terence Young Maurice Binder 1962 GB

Dr. Strangelove Stanley Kubrick Pablo Ferro 1964 USA

Film ohne Titel Rudolf Jugert/ Helmut Käuter

- 1947 D

Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis Nina Saxon Film

Design

1994 USA

Gone in 60 Seconds Dominic Sena - 2000 USA

Hollow Man Paul Verhoeven Picture Mill 2000 USA

Hook Steven Spielberg - 1991 USA

Hostage John Woo Laurent Brett 2002 USA

How The West was Won John Fors - 1962 USA

I Love Melvin Don Weis - 1953 USA

Iron Man Jon Favreau Dany Yout &

Kyle Cooper

2008 USA

Kreise Oscar Fischinger - 1933 D

King Kong Merian C. Cooper

Ernest B. Schoedsack

- 1933 USA

Le Mépris Jean-Luc Godard - 1963 I/F

Lola Rennt Tom Tykwer Studio FILM BILDER

(Gil Alkabetz)

1998 D

Lord of War Andrew Niccol L'E.S.T. (supervisor:

Yann Blondel)

2005 USA


Medientechnik

title directed by title design year country

Manhattan Woddy Allen - 1978 USA

Mimic Guillermo del Torro Kyle Cooper 1997 USA

Minority Report Steven Spielberg - 2002 USA

My Man Godfrey Gregory La Cava - 1936 USA

Nine Hours to Rama Mark Robson Saul Bass 1963 USA

North by Northwest Alfred Hitchcock Saul Bass 1959 USA

Panic Room David Fincher Picture Mill 2002 USA

Pi Darren Arnofsky Jeremy Dawson 1998 USA

Pretty Woman Garry Marshall - 1990 USA

Psycho Alfred Hitchcock Saul Bass 1960 USA

Saw II Darren Lynn

Bousman

- 2005 USA

SE7EN David Fincher Kyle Cooper 1995 USA

Sleeper Woody Allen - 1973 USA

Spiderman Sam Raimi Kyle Cooper 2002 USA

Superman Richard Donner R\Greenberg 1978 USA

Superman Returns Bryan Singer Kyle Cooper 2006 USA/AUS

Terminator James Cameron - 1984 USA/ UK

The Age of Innocence Martin Scorsese Saul Bass 1993 USA

The Dead Zone David Cronenberger Wayne Fitzgerald 1983 USA

The Departed Martin Scorsese - 2006 USA

The Fast and the Furious Rob Cohen - 2001 USA

The Grass is Greener Stanley Donen Maurice Binder 1960 USA

The Holiday Nancy Mayers - 2006 USA

The Island of Dr. Moreau

(Remake)

John Frankenheimer Kyle Cooper 1996 USA

The Man with the

Golden Arm

Otto Preminger Saul Bass 1955 USA

The Pink Panther Blake Edwards Friz Freleng &David H. De Patie

1963 USA

The Russians are

coming, the Russians are

coming

Norman Jewison Pablo Ferro 1966 USA

The Terminal Steven Spielberg - 2004 USA

The Thomas Crown

Affair

Norman Jewison Pablo Ferro 1968 USA

Two Week Notice Marc Lawrence - 2002 USA/ AUS

Wimbledon Richard Loncraine Kyle Cooper 2004 USA/ UK

Woman of Straw Basil Dearden Pablo Ferro 1964 GB


Documents

The Title Sequence - Angelika Schneider · When all title cards for one film were ready, the production company filmed them and produced the final title sequence. film title design