Feature | The Art of the Title Sequence

Dec 30, 2009 Comments

Single Take Titles, Part 4: The POV Shot

Strange Days contact sheet
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With this Strange Days post, 10 years on and to the minute, we begin closing the curtains on our Single Take Titles series. If one of your favorites wasn’t featured, please let us know what we missed.

In the comments readers have mentioned Goodfellas and Russian Ark. For the purposes of this series the latter film qualifies as its opening is uncut, though its actual titles fall on black before the shot begins. However, this beginning is quickly overshadowed by the incredible achievement of the entire film being shot as a single 96-minute Steadicam take.

There is something about the power of single take shots, Steadicam or otherwise, wherever they fall in a movie’s timeline. In fact, we do intend to feature the single take scene that inspired this feature and it is not an opening sequence (but it is connected with one Martin Scorsese).

STRANGE DAYS

Contextually, from a November 1995 issue of American Cinematographer, “…richly textured and technologically groundbreaking…Strange Days [is] a noirish thriller that unfurls almost exclusively in the post-meridian hours…set on the eve of the millennium…tracks the dubious activities of a gang of fringe operators who dabble in a new kind of narcotic: ’sensory recordings’ (SR).” Executive producer/screenwriter James Cameron says he imagines SR as a futuristic offshoot of law enforcement technology, a “next-generation wire-tap.”

Further excerpts from the American Cinematographer article “Long Nights and Strange Days” by Paula Parisi:

“‘This is society’s underbelly, the bottom feeders,’ director Kathryn Bigelow sums up. ‘It’s a world of hustlers, of night crawlers…this is about people who have dark needs that have to be satisfied. They’re living at an intensity that the world of the day does not promise or hold.’ To portray [that] world, Bigelow decided early on that “the photography had to be the looking-glass through which you want to enter…there’s an excitement that the darkness holds.’”

“Strange Days expands the cinematic vocabulary with an abundance of unusual POV shots used to suggest sensory recording and playback. ‘The camera became the eyes of whomever’s experience we were recording,” Director of Photography Matt Leonetti, ASC notes.”

“‘A variety of camera systems of camera systems where used to achieve the look,’ says James Muro, who in addition to operating the Steadicam did a lot of hand-held work using an Aaton and a tiny Robings SL, a 35mm camera that weighs about six pounds with film. Reserving the Steadicam for the more conventional shots…Muro relied on the Robings for the more fluid POVs. Coupling it with the Helmet Integrated Display unit developed by Lightstorm Technologies…Muro was able to hold the camera anywhere while maintaining a viewfinder image in his helmet device. This enabled him ‘to literally put the camera where the actor’s head would be.’”

USA | 1995 | Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD

Extras

55 minute “Opening POV Sequence” scene analysis lecture with Director Kathryn Bigelow.

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(From the 2002 DVD)

“Have You Seen My Hair” – A film by the Future Machine.

A mightily charged short POV film that reminds us of the Strange Days opening.

Have You Seen My Hair contact sheet
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Links

Cinnamon Chasers – Luv Deluxe music video

More POV goodness shot entirely on a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR with a custom rig.

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: James Muro
Length of Shot: 03:16
Equipment Used: Custom built 35mm camera + lightweight, modified Steadicam
Shot Elements: POV, First-person hands, feet and action

Dec 21, 2009 Comments

Single Take Titles, Part 3: Steadicam’s Long Take

“The Steadicam is a combination of several large pieces of equipment, worn on the operator’s body that support the camera. The design of the equipment allows for the operator to walk and move about, without translating his or her footsteps or other vibrations into the lens, and subsequently the shot.” – Steadishots.org

A jitter-free alternative to expensive and laborious tracking platforms, the Steadicam “revolutionizes the ways films are shot” (Stanley Kubrick). The apparatus’ XYZ axis of motion is an easily rotated flotation device for the director’s vision. It is reliant upon the camera operator’s athletic grace and sense of composition. It is a visual language.

Our thanks to Afton Grant, a Steadicam owner and operator from New York, who’s excellent Steadishots website was an invaluable resource in the creation of Single Take Titles, Part 3, and who’s commentary highlights each film here.

After Hours contact sheet
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AFTER HOURS

A synthy clarion bell beckons a plaster-dusted (but alive) Griffin Dunne’s “Paul Hackett” in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours.” Note Hackett’s elevator door-reveal of an expression that Robert Downey Jr. has come to own over the years. With Mozart elevating the sequence the camera’s movement casts a damning eye upon the worker hive. The film is a Kafkaesque (thank you kindly, Mr. Roger Ebert) salve; Paramount had just canceled Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.

S p o i l e r : Back at the office but ultimately missing from his desk Dunne’s “Paul Hackett” goes missing in a familiar place. Again.

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“This is a very fun little shot, though not simple in any way. Done in low mode, at a relatively quick pace, this shot displays the great importance of good dynamic balance. With the fast paced pans and turns around the set, if the sled had not been balanced properly, it would have rolled very dramatically with each turn.”

USA | 1985 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

Extras

The pulsating, exploratory music that plays over Hackett reminds us of the Chemical Brother’s track “Flashback” which, in turn, reminds us of the opening sequence to Doctor Who.

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SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Larry McConkey
Length of Shot: 01:03
Shot Elements: Low-mode

Bonfire of the Vanities contact sheet
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THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES

After a time lapse shot for the ages an air of inebriated whimsy ushers us along with the Bruce Willis character.

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“This would be one of the more famous opening sequences in the world of Steadicam. An almost 5 minute take, executed to near perfection. McConkey’s skill can really be seen in the final few seconds of the shot where the motion slows way down and ends in a lock-off with perfect headroom, horizon, and no wiggle.”

Commentary with Steadicam Operator Larry McConkey:

“I fell on the very first take, due to the introduction of an ice sculpture that extras were wheeling in front of the camera for the first time on the take. Up until then they had rehearsed with an empty cart to save the ice from melting. The extra weight slowed them up considerably. I was following the actors into the underground garage and I had choreographed the ice sculpture to wipe through frame between the actors and me before after which I planned to race in front of the group in time to back through a narrow doorway.

Unfortunately there was an army of people trailing me who had to then race around and precede me through that doorway (Brian, Vilmos, AD’s, sound, my assistant, etc.) and there really wasn’t enough time. Someone tripped my AC, Larry Huston, who graciously offered his body for me to fall on top of. I was completely unharmed, as was the rig, but Larry H. had a nasty gash in his head. He refused a ride to the hospital so we could continue to work, and the nurse reopened his wound after every take to keep it from healing improperly until he could get stitches. What a trooper!!

Brian, who is a master tactician and strategist just hadn’t considered this possibility: he stood over me, and after seeing I was OK said “I didn’t think you could fall!” He had anticipated every potential disaster but this one. We did another 11 takes until dawn when Vilmos informed me that this last take “must be the one!!! The light at the beginning and end were perfect, and that WAS the one.

Each take was a full 500′ and the shot was over when the end of the film flapped through the gate.

I wanted a device to let Bruce pass by me a little too close to the camera for focus in the elevator, and he came up with the idea of scooping up some salmon mousse, and twirling a little drunkenly past me. This also delayed the action enough for the rest of the crew (same group as before except for Larry H. and the boom woman with a wireless boom mike who rode with me) to exit the elevator next to us. They were timing their elevator to synchronize with ours on the way up to maintain a good RF link to the mixer. If the elevators rose side by side it worked fine, otherwise complete dropout.

After exiting, I wanted to get back in front of Bruce so he came up with the Mousse Toss onto the wall thereby backing away from the camera enough to allow me to make a clean exit. There were many other devices like this throughout that I came up with to make the shot flow… I figure the more work everyone else does, and the less work I have to do, the better it will look…

USA | 1990 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Larry McConkey
Length of Shot: 04:58
Shot Elements: Long Shot

Snake Eyes contact sheet
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SNAKE EYES

Here comes the pain.

Feeding off Nic Cage’s dickish-but-funny vapors the opening sequence to Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes impresses as bits of narrative register and bullets fly. The sequence plays continuous but reportedly has eight cuts. Where are they?

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“The full opening sequence continues for almost 13 minutes but the first 7 minutes contain the best examples of the Steadicam work by McConkey. Within the full 13 minutes, there are 8 well hidden cuts, mostly in either whip pans or something crossing full frame.

This shot, and the sequence as a whole, are excellent examples of a director’s vision, and understanding of the tool. Add to that vision, a great amount of trust and collaborative respect for an operator, and you get a shot that people talk about for years to come.”

USA | 1998 | Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Larry McConkey
Length of Shot: 13:00
Shot Elements: Long shot, Stairs, Escalators, Dutch Roll, Whip Pans

Boogie Nights contact sheet
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BOOGIE NIGHTS

After what can be described as an Balkan sounding prelude over black pops practical bubble gum type. “Doesn’t take much to make me happy.” The camera swoops like Burt Reynolds eyebrows and rolls like Heather Graham bringing us into the club making introductions.

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“An amazing opening sequence. Starting on a crane, moving through a couple dutch rolls and tilts down to the ground, entering the club, and tracking the action for nearly 3 minutes.”

USA | 1997 | Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Andy Shuttleworth
Length of Shot: 02:56
Shot Elements: Crane step-off, Dutch rolls, long shot

Outbreak contact sheet
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OUTBREAK

As we skirt a declared national emergency in H1N1 let us consider Wolfgang Petersen’s employment of the long take title sequence in Outbreak; touring the military’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, specifically the various “biosaftey levels” of the Virology Section (from Salmonella to Hanta to the reassuringly-described “unknown”) in a single take grounds us in discomfort.

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“This is an excellent opening POV sequence. Such a long opener requires an incredible amount of coordination. Take note of the many cues and actions that move the camera in and out of the rooms and hallways.”

USA | 1995 | Color | 1.85:1 | English/Korean | DVD/Blu-ray

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Mark Emery Moore
Length of Shot: 02:59
Shot Elements: Long Shot, Oner, Stairs

Serenity contact sheet
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SERENITY

The continuous appeal of Joss Whedon’s characters on the raggedy edge is on parade to begin the title sequence of Serenity, his film based on his Firefly franchise.

Afton Grant from Steadishots:

“An excellent single shot in a movie that, unfortunately did not get a lot of attention. This opening sequence is fantastic. The set is a large part of a spacecraft and the camera goes all through it – upstairs, down corridors, through doorways and more.

If you watch closely, slight zooms are used to close and retreat larger distances without forcing the camera operator to break into a run, or crowd the actors, or backpedal quickly.”

USA | 2005 | Color | 2.35:1 | English/Mandarin | DVD/Blu-ray

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Mark Emery Moore
Length of Shot: 02:59
Shot Elements: Long Shot, Oner, Stairs

Durval Discos contact sheet
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DURVAL DISCOS

When Art of the Title watches a fluid steadicam composition what takes place is a kind of sustenance.

Filmed at Rua Teodoro Sampaio, famous in São Paulo (Brazil) for its concentration of shops selling musical instruments, the opening sequence to Anna Muylaert’s film “Durval Discos” is organic in its ease as DP Jacob Solitrenick treats us to the relaxed pathology of the street.

At once you figure the arrangement and mute any notion of it, allowing the credits to simply come when they come. We are somehow reminded of a certain conversation Robert Duvall had with Sean Penn in “Colors.” Duvall Discos!

Full Post: Durval Discos

Brazil | 2002 | Color | 2.35:1 | Portuguese | DVD

SHOT DETAILS

Operator: Marco Túlio Guglielmone
Length of Shot: 03:33
Shot Elements: Crane step-off, Long Shot

Nov 16, 2009 Comments

Single Take Titles, Part 2: The Individual

A frisson of first impressions in a single take, we root around a character and see something in the recipe.

JCVD contact sheet
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JCVD

This long take opening to JVCD sports a hyperreal sequence that smashes a few formulas while giving us a newly vintaged Van Damme; a survivalist who knows every tough guy trick in the book.

Contact contact sheet
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CONTACT

The cleaving abyss issues through a blue-eyed Ellie into the world of Robert Zemeckis’ Contact.

Feature Commentary excerpt with Actress Jodie Foster from the Special Edition DVD:

“The credit sequence for this movie is pretty spectacular, so if you really want to watch it turn me off, now. If you talk to people who [work in] special effects or people who are really interested in the visuals of movies they’ll have volumes and volumes to talk about but this opening credit sequence, this amazing backward zoom through the Universe that takes you from the ‘too many sounds and too many voices’ of who we are on Earth and into the past where all of our sounds and all of the radio signals that we have emitted finally takes you to the quieter place where none of our high volume squeals and noises actually appear.

But for those of us who are not that interested in visual effects, like myself, it is a very interesting journey in the film, an interesting journey for the characters. You get this idea that you’re in a space ship, let’s say, or some kind of device that is taking you all the way back in time, to a place in the Universe where no Earthling has ever been. And I guess you have to assume that because this is the point of view of the lead character, Ellie Arroway that this is her image, her imagination, her idea of what a journey like this would really be like. So much of the film, as it continues, is pretty much about that same idea.

This is the best part, where [the screen] goes very quiet and, if you’ve ever seen this in a theater, there are a lot of people feeling very uncomfortable because they think the sound just went off in the theater.

This is a view of the Universe that no one has ever had and it really comes out of Carl’s Sagan life’s work. We saw all the little spiral galaxies and all the different types of galaxies and now you go into this array which comes out. And as we zoom out and we zoom out of a little girl’s eye. The ‘ins and outs’ of this is that Jenna Malone, the actor who plays me, doesn’t really have blue eyes, so that’s the very first effect in the movie [proper].”

Feature Commentary excerpt with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Steve Starkey from the Special Edition DVD:

Robert Zemeckis: “Yes, we did change that logo, we had to, the daylight [version] was too bright to start the movie off.”

Steve Starkey: “We also decided to keep the type style of the original book [for] the main title of the movie. Remember when Carl [Sagan] was first presented with the idea of this opening, Bob?”

RZ: “He said it was great to show the audience the vastness of the Universe but he was disturbed that the shot violated every physical law of nature.

SS: “We thought that was a good foot to get off on. The wonderful thing was that [Carl] went ahead and gave us his favorite space images that he thought of as we were traveling through the Universe, [images] we should try to show the audience at the beginning of the movie.”

RZ: “This shot is very impressive and of course it is all done digitally. It is beautiful job that they did, it’s very long.”

SS: “The sounds from the present day overlap [into a] cacophony.”

RZ: “And going back in time. And catching up to broadcasts that have been traveling away from the Earth for a long time. I remember we were struggling with this shot and Michael Goldenberg, the screenwriter, and myself. The convention was to have the camera flying toward the Earth; that’s how it was written, that’s how the book started, as if it were ‘the message’ coming at the Earth. It just seemed false and this turned out to be a much better way of doing it. I remember we got that inspiration after talking with Carl, we flying back on the plane and said ‘let’s go the other way.’ And that just solved all our problems, created as The Universe In the Blink of An Eye theme that runs throughout the film.”

SS: “I thought it was very bold that you elaborated the scale of the Universe by going to silence in the middle of the sequence. “

RZ: “There is nothing out there [at that point], so there has to be.”

SS: “This gives you a new perspective on planet Earth to look at it from this far out in the Universe. You render yourself rather insignificant in relation to the whole.”

RZ: “[Referring to the reveal of the young Ellie Arroway] The thing that I think is so cool about this shot is that Jenna’s eyes are not really that color; those are Jodie’s [iris].”

USA | 1997 | Color | 2.35:1 | English/Spanish/German | DVD/Blu-ray

Extras

Feature Commentary excerpt with Ken Ralston, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor and Stephen Rosenbaum, Visual Effects Supervisor.

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(From the Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray)

CREDITS

Main and End Title Design: Nina Saxon Film Design

Fight Club contact sheet
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FIGHT CLUB

Bouncing around your head like jargon, like some synaptic pinball nebula, a blow-out of thought like “I’ve been holding the gun that has chipped my teeth long enough for it to be warm,” the groundbreaking opening title sequence to David Fincher’s Fight Club is a massively budgeted roller coaster. When will another film come along and show us our primal core through a prism of heartsick dementia?

Feature Commentary excerpt with Director David Fincher from the Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD:

“The opening title sequence was supposed to be starting inside the fear center of Edward Norton’s brain. The electricity is like photo electrical stimuli that is running through his brain. These are supposed to be impulses, fear-based impulses. We are changing scale the whole time so we’re starting at the size of a dendrite [and] we are pulling back through the frontal lobes, going through this black section where there are particles; we’ve left the brain and are going through the skull casing. This is inside the skull where Arnon’s name appears, inside bone where apparently there is some fluid in, which I did not know. And then we pull out through this clogged pore. The first time we showed this to [Edward] he said, “My face is not that dirty.” And I said that this was all based on actual photographs…of your skin.”

Extras

Visual Effects Featurette: Main Title Sequence

Visual Effects Feature: Main Title Sequence contact sheet
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Behind the Scenes featurette on the making of the title sequence with commentary by Visual Effects Supervisors Kevin Tod Haug and Kevin Mack. (From the Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD)

Brain Ride Pre-Production Images – Click to Watch Slideshow

Brain Ride Pre-Production Images thumbstrip

CREDITS

Main Title Design: Makela

Forrest Gump contact sheet
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FORREST GUMP

A feather in the proverbial cap of a grounded idiot savant about to take off. Like spotless laces on muddy sneakers, this deserves a little looking into.

Actor Tom Hanks:

“Our destiny is only defined by how we deal with the chance elements to our life. That is the embodiment of the feather; here is this thing that can land anywhere, and it lands at your feet.”

Actor Sally Field:

“Part of the picture is about fate. The feather blows in the wind and touches down here or there. Was it planned or was it per chance?”

USA | 1994 |Black and White/Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD/Blu-ray

Extras

“Through the eyes of Forrest Gump” documentary excerpt

Through the eyes of Forrest Gump documentary excerpt contact sheet
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(From the Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition DVD)

CREDITS

Main and End Title Design: Nina Saxon Film Design

Falling Down contact sheet
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FALLING DOWN

Exhalant, exhaust and exhaustion. Sniffing the rusty air while the demon circles. There are moments when the pain in this life is too great. The length of these moments put a fine point on who we are.

CREDITS

Title Design: BLT & Associates, Inc.
Titles and Opticals: Pacific Title

Nov 2, 2009 Comments

Single Take Titles, Part 1: The Classic(s)

It is a feat of power and vision, flexibility and choreography; awe-inducing movement that is beyond description. A moment to revisit. What would it be like to hold the camera and do this, to push the story, to really exert a vision, to strain the frame in service to it?

The liquid-like immersion into story deepens with these shining selections of streaming sight lines.

We have a few categories we’ll break out over the coming months. In keeping with the long “single take” theme, we are going to take our time with this feature post. When we are near the end we will put a call out for suggestions. Until then, tuck away your title lists and revisit your favorite films.

The Player contact sheet
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THE PLAYER

A self-referential introduction to the world of make believe, the opening single take sequence to Robert Altman’s “The Player” is a formula-bending ode to a classic. Altman’s wonderful analog parlor patter follows the scenery as the storyline unfolds between storylines. Clever quickly turns classic as the film is established as something more visual flourish than acerbic satire. The sequence segues nicely to the next title in this ongoing “Single Take Titles” feature post.

From the 1997 New Line Platinum Series DVD, Robert Altman on The Player:

“I had to set up the movie studio and wanted to set up the characters that we were going to be dealing with and I wanted to get the audience’s attention, to tell them that they had to pay attention. And I actually built a scale model of the set with a crane to see where I could go. Then we choreographed all the positions. We introduced this [film] in one reel, which was nine minutes.

All of the various things that happen were all planned pretty well, but none of the dialog was. It was all improvised…We did about 15 takes, with 11 microphones. We rehearsed it for a day, we lit it and came back the next day, which was a Sunday, and we shot it in half a day. It turned out to be a very efficient way to get ten minutes of film. And you save your editor’s fee. It’s a very conceited thing, this shot with no cuts, it draws attention; it’s of the mode of people who make pictures. It is showing off. It sets the picture up…it’s like music [in that] it tells you what kind of deal you’re in. It’s a satire on the way people behave in these movie studios.

There was such a fuss about it. People were afraid I was going to do this or that. The more afraid they got, the more ideas they gave me. Looking back on this picture, it is a pretty tame satire. This is no big indictment. Things are much, much worse than this picture seems to say. The truth of the matter is I cannot make the kind of movies [Hollywood] wants to make. The kind of movies that I like to make, and can make, and make are not the kind of films they know how to distribute. So we basically aren’t in the same business. There’s no point in calling me to make a pair of gloves for you when I make shoes.”

USA | 1992 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

Touch of Evil contact sheet
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TOUCH OF EVIL

Ticking tension takes a ride.

A classic Mexican mop up with bang bang follow-through, the opening sequence to Orson Welles’ “Touch of Evil” is the granddaddy of the long take title. Every element is note perfect from the off screen ambling death psychology of a 1956 Chrysler New Yorker to the protagonists’ own circumnavigation at the mention of “the Grandi business.”

Note that the theatrical version has titles and Henry Mancini’s theme music while the restored version, closer to Welles’ vision, is without titles and features “a succession of different and contrasting Latin American musical numbers – the effect, that is, of our passing one cabaret orchestra after another.” (quote from Orson Welles’ legendary memo to Universal)

Theatrical Version Feature Commentary with Writer/Filmmaker F.X. Feeney from the Universal Studios’ 50th Anniversary Edition DVD:

“Welcome to the 1958 release cut of “Touch of Evil.” This little egg timer is set for precisely three and a half minutes. Tick, tick, tick we’re embarking on a combination thrill-ride morality tale bursting with the energy of its co-star, writer and director Orson Welles. I love the fast-running shadow along the wall. Of the three versions that exist of Touch of Evil this is the fastest-paced, the most energetic. It’s missing about six minutes of material Welles would have preferred to include. In harmony with our ticking timer and our deadly bomb this astonishingly complex master shot is going to unfold across precisely three and a half minutes. Shadows are like a Greek chorus commenting on the action in Welles-O-Vision, so is this airborne camera moving like a winged serpent over these rooftops and streets.

We are in the mythical U.S./Mexico border town of Los Robles. Connoisseurs of L.A. architecture will recognize the looped arches and fanciful galleries of Venice, California [which was] built in the 1920s by Abbot Kinney, a developer with a mad crush on Venice, Italy. These magical facades were ideal for Welles’ purposes as storyteller. They anchor us in a place apart from either the U.S. or Mexico. We can think of it as a geographic Twilight Zone.

Here are the two great romantic leads, the two greats of their time, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh as Mike Vargas and Susie.

Henry Mancini’s music here is sensational. He organized a latin-style band using talent from outside Universal Studio. It’s a perfect counterpoint to the sensuous muscularity of the camerawork and the very precise criss-crossing of all the people; an enormous operation. Welles originally intended that the music blasting from the cantinas would create a surf of sound and atmosphere (for that see the 1998 Restoration cut where those intentions are scrupulously honored). But I have to say, as a life-long fan of the film, I find Mancini’s magnificent overture indispensable to the power of this opening, I even prefer it, with all due respect to Welles.

Small wonder there is an explosion when these two kiss. The blast plunges us into another world altogether. We are free of the elaborate crane and we are running with the characters [the camera is] handheld.”

Restored Version Feature Commentary with Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Restoration Producer Rick Schmidlin from the Universal Studios’ 50th Anniversary Edition DVD:

Charlton Heston: “The beginning of the project…I read the script and thought that it was okay…it was a police story [so I mentioned] that they had been doing police stories for fifty years, [so] who going to direct? [The studio] told me that they got Orson Welles to play the heavy and I said, “Why don’t you have him direct? He’s a pretty good director. They seemed surprised at that but in the end they gave in and here we have the beginning of a remarkable film.”

Janet Leigh: “I remember we were [shooting] all night to make this one extraordinary shot. It was tedious and long but we knew it was a historical shot.”

CH: “Of course the shot was enormously difficult to do with a Chapman Boom…and it was further complicated as we get to the border crossing [in the scene]…the music is of course a marvelous contribution to the whole” [Art of the Title note: please listen to the omission of Henry Mancini's score from the restored version of the film].

JL: “[the music] gives the feeling of a border town.”

CH: “The border guard had a terrible time remembering his lines. You can see that dawn is breaking. This was the last time we could possibly do this shot and Orson said “We will do one more take.” And then he told the guard, “This time, don’t you say anything. Just move your lips and we’ll post-dub it, but for God’s sake don’t say ‘I’m sorry Mr. Welles.’”

Rick Schmidlin: “[As the onscreen Charlton Heston & Janet Leigh kiss prior to the explosion] Okay, I want you to watch something here. Watch the shadow against the wall. Who does that look like?”

CH: “Orson”

JL: “It looks like [Orson's] Quinlan.”

Preview Version Feature Commentary with Orson Welles Historians Jonathan Rosenbaum (Author, “Discovering Orson Welles“) and James Naremore (Author, “The Magic World of Orson Welles“) from the Universal Studios’ 50th Anniversary Edition DVD:

James Naremore: “This is the second version of “Touch of Evil.”"

Jonathan Rosenbaum: “[This] was found in the mid 70’s and it 15 minutes longer, but we should emphasize right now that there is no such thing as a director’s cut, nor could there be. This is another version that was found that has more material by Welles but also more material not by Welles.”

JN: “One of the things we are seeing that he didn’t originally plan is the credits are playing over this sequence that [Welles] wanted without the credits…the photographer for this film is Russell Metty, a contract photographer at Universal and he was well known for his use of crane shots.”

JR: “This is the most famous shot of the film, but Welles himself was much prouder of a couple of other shots he did later in the film because this is the kind of thing that calls attention to itself whereas he thought that the most effective virtuoso work was the kind that wasn’t noticed by the audience.”

JN: “This shot is not simply a flamboyant tracking shot, it also has to do with the theme of the film. The film is very much about the ambiguous border between the U.S. and Mexico…the two leading characters are representatives of either side of the boarder and there is a kind of racial/ethnic theme running through the film. It’s almost as though the kiss between the Mexican character and the woman from Philadelphia sets off racial tensions. The timing of the kiss is important in relation to the explosion.”

JR: “This has got to be Orson Welles most politically incorrect movie, which is one of its strengths.”

JN: “Yes, and it is very much a political movie…with the explosion, the film shatters into montage. We might want to keep in mind that this film was shot not too long after the Supreme Court desegregation decision of 1954, the integration of Little Rock high school had taken place, the Civil Rights Movement had begun, and Welles had a long history of being involved with activities of that sort. And, in this case, he had completely transformed the novel that this film is based on (Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson) and made it into, I think, an indirect commentary on racial tensions in the United States.”

USA | 1958 | Black and White | 1.37:1 | English/Spanish | DVD

Jan 2, 2009 Comments

Fetishistic Advocacy for Speed in Titles

Seven sequences of stirring mobility.

Between driver and destination burrows transmutation. The road spreads and the governing need is not to arrive, but to go. What better odyssey of thought then a speeding sojourn into darkness? You may burn (may you burn), you may soar (may you soar).

Fallen Angel contact sheet
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FALLEN ANGEL

Road sign credits overlay the dark winding artery. The tremulous camera adds an unease heightened when the bus driver turns and stares. His was our initiatory point of view…and now his eyes are not on the road.

USA | 1947 | Black and White | 1.37:1 | English | DVD

The Girl on a Motorcycle contact sheet
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THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE

Jack Cardiff’s “The Girl on a Motorcycle” has us zipping along the Interstate in half-steady, half-cocked woozy acceleration.

UK | 1968 | Color | 1.66:1 | English | DVD

Extras

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp contact sheet
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Another (Post-Credit) Sequence with Actual Motorcycles That Thrill!

UK | 1943 | Color | 1.37:1 | English/French/German | DVD

Repo Man contact sheet
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REPO MAN

The opening sequence to Alex Cox’s “Repo Man” is perfect punk pixelation; distillation of a bitmapped nation. With Iggy Pop’s ripping fucksweat beat and the stringent static map motion, everything about the credit sequence moves, not unlike classic punk poster art. We throb into the blipping bulls eye: a space that is nothing less than the beginning.

USA | 1984 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

CREDITS

Title Designer: Robert Dawson

Natural Born Killers contact sheet
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NATURAL BORN KILLERS

The title sequence for Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” feature, among others, the madness of Patti Smith’s track “Roll N Roll Nigger” and a back seat POV that seemingly takes its cue from brash noir “Gun Crazy.”

USA | 1994 | Black and White/Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD/Blu-ray

Extras

Commentary excerpt with director Oliver Stone.

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(From the Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut DVD and Blu-ray)

A Backseat POV from “Gun Crazy”

Gun Crazy contact sheet
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USA | 1950 | Black and White | 1.37:1 | English | DVD

Lost Highway contact sheet
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LOST HIGHWAY

Plunging the dark horizontal depths of possible collision/possible arrival, David Lynch and title sequence designer Jay Johnson perhaps borrow from Jack Cardiff’s “The Girl on a Motorcycle,” and Monte Hellman’s “Two-Lane Blacktop” for the speed dream start to “Lost Highway.” The variable velocity puts you ill at ease while the atmospheric thrust of David Bowie and Brian Eno’s track, “I’m Deranged,” imbues the cryptic mix.

France/USA | 1997 | Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD

CREDITS

Title Designer: Jay Johnson

U Turn contact sheet
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U TURN

Art of the Title is willing to bet Oliver Stone had one hell of a shot list for the opening credit sequence that features nicely delineated aesthetic for every episodic bend of this very long drive (the gradual matting of Sean Penn’s hair tells the story). A scratch type “crossroads crucifix” is added to the director credit. Drugs and vultures follow. Exacting inserts detail the small truths of time and place.

France/USA | 1997 | Black and White/Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

CREDITS

Title Designer: C. Y. Lee

Mulholland Dr. contact sheet
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MULHOLLAND DR.

The crooked black melodrama, the kind that David Lynch traffics in exclusively and without peer, is set within the weird, sinking delirium of Angelo Badalamenti’s score. The distance between our hovering eye and the shadowy, almost woozy conveyance coddles the curiosity.

France/USA | 2001 | Color | 1.85:1 | English/Spanish | DVD

Extras

Angelo Badalamenti on working with David Lynch (excerpt)

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CREDITS

Title Designer: Jay Johnson

Oct 10, 2008 Comments

Morrison on Morrison

We are but beneficiaries of both the depth of design and the intellectual complexities of Richard Morrison’s body of cinematic title sequences. We rejoice in the work put in to this post. Indeed what better than researching a man whose work is a foregone conclusion in heart and wonderment?

The son of a film editor, Morrison became a master at internalizing a director’s intent and distilling it for the title sequence. From Morrison, “I look for a nuance, a subliminal energy in a film that I can then work into an idea.”

Morrison discusses six of his sequences.

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Brazil
“The optical effects in Brazil have quite a timeless quality to them. I did not consciously set out to create something so lasting. It was more of a serendipitous happening.

Terry Gilliam is a very hands-on director, throwing ideas at you and getting really involved. So, in this case creating the sequence was something of a process. I never quite knew what to expect, until seeing final effect and thinking, yeah that’s it! That’s usually how it all looks when you work with very visually striking directors. They will already have their own ideas and just try to work with me to create them. And so if you work for someone who is visually more inspiring, they tend to give you more rope… It is good experience though because it fuels your creativity and in a weird kind of way turns into something that is ageless, simple and unique. As with Brazil…”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×400 | Size: 12.3 MB | Running Time: 1:02 | Year: 1985

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Batman
“The Batman 1989 environment was not that homogenized. In fact, there weren’t many people on the same platform and we were all very individual.

I did not know Tim before so I had to pitch for the project. We just had to make sure what we were about. I sat with him for a few minutes, and then just walked around the set of Gotham city. And that was it, really. I clearly remember I sat back in the car and all of a sudden I knew it.

I knew it had to be something about the classic batman comic logo. I thought, what if we think of that in a 360 degree move, how about if it’s in landscape, how about I make it something you can move around so you don’t quite know what it is. So that was the idea and then I just invented the world around it. Nobody did anything like it before so that’s why it probably retained its timeless feel.”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×416 | Size: 26.1 MB | Running Time: 2:38 | Year: 1989

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High Fidelity
“When working on this sequence I kept three notions in mind. Make it original, simple and distinctive enough. I believed simple content would be the answer to a finely tuned piece of work. Hence, the sequence abounds in this somewhat old-fashioned vintage style “brand identity” approach with a titled logotype centrally set in a 3d background movement.

I knew the film would be humorously philosophical. So I thought it was perfectly natural to create some kind of a retro feel to reflect some of the older classic films, but also keep it feeling fresh and contemporary at a time. Understanding where the film sat in its surrounding was absolutely vital. Although it is a short piece the level of difficulty was naturally quite high. Timing being one of the main reasons. Many creatives will tell you short pieces are the most difficult ones because you need to ensure that you make the most of every single second especially graphically and visually.”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×384 | Size: 31.1 MB | Running Time: 3:04 | Year: 2000

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The Dreamers
“As a creative I find the idea being always the key. The means to do it is a secondary matter. Because of the nature of the Dreamers, its plot and timing I wanted this sequence to look organic. Just like in the old days. So I just started piecing visual abstractive elements together, like in a puzzle, and decided to completely abandon any complex animation effects. It just did not fit in with the essence of the movie.

To preserve that “old school” feel I worked as if everything was completely optical. You see, in the past you just could not see things in real time. And this had a tremendous impact on your pace of work, accuracy, thought process and the whole approach really. You had to be a better planner…you had to be a master of accuracy… Everything you were doing was in real scale, very physical. You could not just press Delete and start over.

So, creating this sequence in this way I really had a genuine belief that this would actually work. Luckily, it did.

And so the main idea applied was to use the Eiffel Tower as the backgrounder for interaction of the tower’s 3d shapes with graphically explored elements such as typeface and colours. This, combined with the application of a continuous vertical camera pan, produced something of a lasting and very specific effect. I think most people now recognize the Dreamers just by that quite memorable title sequence.”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×384 | Size: 16.7 MB | Running Time: 1:34 | Year: 2003

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street contact sheet
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
“This industry is very specific and if you do a good job then you tend to be remembered by directors and producers.

What I enjoyed most was coming up with the whole idea. I did not have to pitch to Tim but I turned this project into an internal pitch at th1ng. And so, a few days later, I had a room plenty of some truly outstanding creative work. I took it all to Tim and he just spread them all over the floor and spent around a day or two looking through them. And then he just said: I really like this narrative piece (mine) and those coloured frames (Shay Hamias, director).

Animating blood and its movement became the most crucial and challenging element of the sequence. We had to build special platforms within which we imitated blood movement and filmed it. And we had to give it this comical feel, which worked really well. That was a dream project. We would love to work on something similar.”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 848×480 | Size: 45 MB | Running Time: 2:52 | Year: 2007

720p HD Version | Format: QuickTime H.264, 1280×720 | Size: 102 MB | Running Time: 2:52 | Year: 2007

Vantage Point contact sheet
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Vantage Point
“It is an elegant piece. I liked the idea of random elements coming together before our very eyes, and I thought it would be very clever to use the red laser-dot as a motif. It immediately introduced the theme of assassination and threat. Also, I think that the dark-gold palette of these images strikes a chord with the filters used later to film Salamanca—there was this smooth transition between the titles and the first scenes shot from the helicopter. The sequence had to be based around the idea of perspectives. So I graphically tried to create a web of intrigue to give viewers an accurate insight into what they can expect in the movie.”

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 853×354 | Size: 14 MB | Running Time: 1:04 | Year: 2008

Video Extra: An Interview with Richard Morrison

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×400 | Size: 98.5 MB | Running Time: 9:26 | Year: 2007

Related Extra: The Den Of Geek interview: Richard Morrison

Created by Richard Morrison, th1ng

Jul 23, 2008 Comments

Tension in Title Sequences

For all its efficiency a guillotine isn’t easy to erect. Sometimes you have to swing an ax. The pulse quickens and the reverberation connects those on each end. These four title sequences take a little off the top and open films that put a lump in your throat.

Sisters contact sheet
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SISTERS

Brian De Palma, what hath thou wrought? Snapshots of a devil-fetus(es), the aural anxiety brought to us by Bernard Herrmann in a style reminiscent in tone of his work on the opening titles for Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”

“What the devil hath joined together let no man cut asunder.”

USA | 1973 | Black and White (flashback sequence)/Color | 1.85:1 | English/French | DVD

CREDITS

Cinematographer: Title Sequence: Lennart Nilsson

Riget (The Kingdom) contact sheet
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RIGET (THE KINGDOM)

I’ve come to know the title sequence of Lars von Trier’s “Kingdom” well; I’ve read the subtitles enough times to know the narration to its core. I will on occasion watch it without subtitles to bask in the black. There is death in every visual, even the water seems dead. Then, those hands. Not to mislead, but anyone raised on Romero smiles at that moment.

What happens next is perhaps the most jarring occurrence in title sequence design; this lushly cinematic sense of sheer dread is halted by spastically edited Dogme 95 footage that was shot on sub-standard video and scored to music fit for a late-in-the-episode SNL skit. All this as an introduction to one of the best television series in history.

Denmark/France/Germany/Sweden | 1994 | Color | 1.33:1 | Danish/Swedish | DVD

The Changeling contact sheet
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THE CHANGELING

An absolute thing of beauty where the sheer gravity of the action between the titling becomes the film’s constitution. As the opening sequence resumes we get the aftermath of too-great an emotional weight. And we know, most of us from personal experience, the doorman’s perspective; he wants to help but there is nothing to be done.

CANADA | 1980 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

Onibaba contact sheet
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ONIBABA

Fields of whipping reeds that house an abyss. What emerges? The jazzy paranoia of Hikaru Hayashi’s percussive score jolts one from uneasy contemplation while the frame remains remarkably disciplined -the music is allowed to do its job. We see patterns in the wind. There is movement there. And it is chaotic and hungry and wholly uninviting. An opening to a cinematic masterpiece that is the very embodiment of a most fearsome artifact, the Noh mask.

Japan | 1964 | Black and White | 2.35:1 | Japanese | DVD

May 14, 2008 Comments

Alien Quadrilogy Analysis

Note the consistency of design in the title sequences to the Alien Quadrilogy. Note too how they differ. Does each tangent of theme reflect the respective film?

Alien contact sheet
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ALIEN

Crossing over an eclipsing planet with the title appearing in non-linear, segmented letters. From the outer letters inwards (even the middle swath of the letter “E” is last to appear). Everything pointing to the center because the center is where the parasitic pupae of the Alien comes from; the middle of you. Steady, dark tension.

UK/USA | 1979 | Color | 2.20:1 | English/Spanish | DVD

CREDITS

Title Designer: Saul Bass (uncredited)

Aliens contact sheet
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ALIENS

The sparse, soldiering snare drum opening to an almost digital yet organic titling, like the profile of some never before seen hive. The text, apparitional at first, seems to be gestating; the “I” blooms into a symbol of life and we are in the story with a masterful tilt down on the encroaching vessel. Fairly glorious.

USA/UK | 1986 | Color | 1.85:1 | English | DVD

Alien3 contact sheet
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ALIEN³

The last brassy notes of the Twentieth Century Fox theme holds and contorts into the reverberating growl of the film’s soundscape. Then, the familiarity of the abyss punctuated by staccato, mini cut scenes that move the story along. New format, familiar threads…the wrinkle, we begin to understand, will be in the telling. Nothing comforts quite like facehuggers interrupting stasis to earn cinematic trust!

USA | 1992 | Color | 2.20:1 | English | DVD

CREDITS

Title Design: John Beach, Black Box K°
Titles and Opticals: Pacific Title

Alien Resurrection contact sheet
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ALIEN RESURRECTION

The womb-like viscera of human and alien-crossed monstrosities connotes a bastardization.

USA | 1997 | Color | 2.35:1 | English | DVD

Extras

Alien: Resurrection – Alternate

Alien: Resurrection - Alternate contact sheet
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Conceptually interesting but perhaps too great a departure. And no one puts bug guts anywhere near their mouth. Not unless they are chocolate covered and never if they’re space bugs. And who fires spitballs at a window needed for navigation? I can’t seem to get past that, even with the now-boilerplate spaceships in space shot.

CREDITS

Title Coordinators: Ben Schoen, Scarlet Letters and Rob Yamamoto
Titles and Opticals: Pacific Title

Single Take Titles, Part 4: The POV Shot

Single Take Titles, Part 3: Steadicam’s Long Take

Single Take Titles, Part 2: The Individual

Single Take Titles, Part 1: The Classic(s)

Fetishistic Advocacy for Speed in Titles

Morrison on Morrison

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×400 | Size: 12.3 MB | Running Time: 1:02 | Year: 1985

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×416 | Size: 26.1 MB | Running Time: 2:38 | Year: 1989

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×384 | Size: 31.1 MB | Running Time: 3:04 | Year: 2000

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×384 | Size: 16.7 MB | Running Time: 1:34 | Year: 2003

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 848×480 | Size: 45 MB | Running Time: 2:52 | Year: 2007

720p HD Version | Format: QuickTime H.264, 1280×720 | Size: 102 MB | Running Time: 2:52 | Year: 2007

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 853×354 | Size: 14 MB | Running Time: 1:04 | Year: 2008

Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 720×400 | Size: 98.5 MB | Running Time: 9:26 | Year: 2007

Tension in Title Sequences

Alien Quadrilogy Analysis

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