![]() They also inspired many imitators both in cinema and on television. The title sequences of Saul Bass and Maurice Binder are among the best examples of this. Since the late 1950s, film title sequences have been a showcase for contemporary design and illustration. There are also a few cases in which titles and credits are sung, including the musicals Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) and Meet Me After the Show (1951). The first example of this in American cinema was The Terror (1928). ![]() ![]() In 1947, the Technicolor film Sinbad the Sailor, the letters of the opening credits seem to form from colored water gushing into a fountain.įilm titles and credits usually appear in written form, but occasionally they are spoken instead. These include The Wizard of Oz (1939), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), the David Lean Oliver Twist (1948), and the 1961 King of Kings. In several films, the opening credits have appeared against a background of (sometimes moving) clouds. This opening sequence was designed by John Harkrider, who created the costumes for the original 1927 Broadway production of the musical. In the 1936 film Show Boat, cut-out figures on a revolving turntable carried overhead banners which displayed the opening credits. Some films have employed unusual and fairly elaborate title sequences since the late 1910s in America this practice became more common in the 1930s. Its title sequence "helped lend the show a credibility and gravitas normally reserved for cinema, giving it a stronger foothold in the mind and memory of the audience." Īs of the beginning of the 21st century, title sequences can be found bookending a variety of media besides film and television including video games, conferences, and even music videos. For example, when The Sopranos first aired in 1999, it was only the second hour-long television drama that HBO had ever produced. Soon thereafter, television followed suit and networks like HBO began to develop more cinematic experiences for television, including more elaborate and considered title sequences. The title opticals for Se7en were created by Cinema Research Corporation, the leading title company in the 1990s. Ironically, a key sequence in this resurgence was the main title to David Fincher's Se7en, designed by Kyle Cooper while at R/GA, which was created using primarily analogue means. The introduction of digital technologies in the late 1980s and early 1990s to film and television changed both industries, and accordingly the 1990s saw a resurgence in title design. There have been several such pivotal moments in title design history. Since then, the mediums of film and television have engaged in a kind of push and pull behavior, inspiring and spurring each other in different directions. This innovation, in turn, influenced the 1960s television predilection for title design, resulting in the creation of strong graphics-led sequences for many television shows. The title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography. As cinema's title sequences grew longer and more elaborate, the involvement of prominent graphic designers including Saul Bass and Maurice Binder became more common. Part of cinema's new prestigious and expansive quality were orchestral overtures before the curtains opened and long title sequences - all designed to convey a sense of gravitas it was hoped television would be unable to compete with. The "cast of thousands" epics shot on various patent widescreen formats were a direct response to television's successful invasion of the leisure marketplace. ![]() The advent of television was a pivotal moment for title design because it forced the major film studios to invest in making cinema more attractive in order to win back a diminishing audience. Slowly, title sequences evolved to become more elaborate pieces of film. With the arrival of sound, the sequence was usually accompanied by a musical prelude or overture. In silent cinema, title cards or intertitles were used throughout to convey dialogue and plot, and it is in some of these early short films that we see the first examples of title sequences themselves, being quite literally a series of title cards shown at the beginning of a film. Since the invention of the cinematograph, simple title cards were used to begin and end silent film presentations in order to identify both the film and the production company involved, and to act as a signal to viewers that the film had started and then finished. Title sequence of the 1932 film A Farewell to Arms.
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