One of my favorite websites is The Art of the Title Sequence. It's all about those first few moments of a movie (or sometimes the last few) in which the credits appear. Now, in the early days of the cinema, opening and closing credits were simple: Title card here, list of cast and crew there. Well, along comes Saul Bass, the Godfather of Title Sequence Design. Bass was a graphic designer who found his way into the movie business in the 1950s and ended up working with Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger to create some of the most well-known title designs and movie posters (link to Vertigo). He took those title cards, threw them away, and made the opening credits a crucial part to the movie, and often, a story unto themselves.
Hands down: Saul Bass has greatly influenced a number of designers - both in and out of the film business. Well, last night at the Plaza Theater here in Atlanta I attended a lecture by someone who was greatly influenced by Saul Bass: Kyle Cooper. Now, I'm sure most of you are thinking, "Hmmm...who's Kyle Cooper?" I'm sure his name is less than familiar, but if you're anywhere on the spectrum of general moviegoer to cinephile, you, most certainly, know his work. His first major title design that landed him on the map was for David Fincher's Se7en. From there, he's gone on to create the sequences for Braveheart, Spider-Man (1, 2, 3), Superman Returns, Mission Impossible, Iron Man, etc. etc. He also has a production company (his second actually) called Prologue Films which works in all realms of media. What they've done recently, and what Kyle Cooper executive produced, were the opening and closing credits for Sherlock Holmes - which were incredible. Really, really beautiful.
Cooper is a Mass native (holla!), is an alum of UMass Amherst and Yale Grad, and isn't afraid to let his Bahstan accent come out now and then. He's really set the bar for contemporary title design, and I have to admit, there are a few movies on his credit sheet that his work saved, in my opinion. Whether or not you're a fan of the titles (opening or closing), you should know that a lot of effort and thought go into them, and when you're as good as Saul Bass or Kyle Cooper, that work does not go unnoticed. I have a project coming up in my Cine/Edit class involving the creation of a title sequence. I wonder how much Coopah would charge me for his work? Hmmm....
Hands down: Saul Bass has greatly influenced a number of designers - both in and out of the film business. Well, last night at the Plaza Theater here in Atlanta I attended a lecture by someone who was greatly influenced by Saul Bass: Kyle Cooper. Now, I'm sure most of you are thinking, "Hmmm...who's Kyle Cooper?" I'm sure his name is less than familiar, but if you're anywhere on the spectrum of general moviegoer to cinephile, you, most certainly, know his work. His first major title design that landed him on the map was for David Fincher's Se7en. From there, he's gone on to create the sequences for Braveheart, Spider-Man (1, 2, 3), Superman Returns, Mission Impossible, Iron Man, etc. etc. He also has a production company (his second actually) called Prologue Films which works in all realms of media. What they've done recently, and what Kyle Cooper executive produced, were the opening and closing credits for Sherlock Holmes - which were incredible. Really, really beautiful.
Cooper is a Mass native (holla!), is an alum of UMass Amherst and Yale Grad, and isn't afraid to let his Bahstan accent come out now and then. He's really set the bar for contemporary title design, and I have to admit, there are a few movies on his credit sheet that his work saved, in my opinion. Whether or not you're a fan of the titles (opening or closing), you should know that a lot of effort and thought go into them, and when you're as good as Saul Bass or Kyle Cooper, that work does not go unnoticed. I have a project coming up in my Cine/Edit class involving the creation of a title sequence. I wonder how much Coopah would charge me for his work? Hmmm....
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