The Art Of Film Title Design

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/04/the-art-of-the-film-title-throughout-cinema-history/

1) “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” (1906) - was directed by J. Stuart Blackton, who many consider to be the father of American animation. Not only is it one of the first animated films, it is among the first to feature an animated opening title, making it a precursor of the modern title sequence:

I chose this point as it to me it is a milestone for all title design artists as it shows just how everything started and how far the world has come with technology and other materials used and to me this is a very valuable point as this picture above was the start of something very world wide and unique.

In my opinion when I first look at this picture above the first thing I think is old, black and white film. However to put yourselves in the shoes of someone who lived in those time I think it would have been astonishing to see just how crazy to believe this would have been and it is very effective of the contrasts from today’s technology and the technology back then, you can see here that the progression of title design and film has come a long way since those times. But in my opinion it is still right to admire the work that went in to making the title designs back then and today as this was the first to feature an animated title design and if you look at it above you could say that it is a proud moment for J. Stuart Blackton as this is where animated title design all started and from then on it only got better.

2) During the 1920s and ’30s, European cinema was deeply influenced by modernism, and aspects of this visual sensibility were brought to the US by filmmakers who were fleeing the Nazis. Meanwhile, the studio systems operating in Europe and Hollywood also delighted in creating titles that featured vernacular graphic novelties. As much as possible, they liked to convey the tone of a movie through the “dressage” of its main title. Thus, blackletter fonts in the opening credits were used to evoke horror, ribbons and flowery lettering suggested love, and typography that would have been used on “Wanted” posters connoted a western flick.

I find this comment interesting as it almost tells you just what type of typology goes with the different types of genre. Most of the audience could probably guess what the genre of film was through the typology but what you see above are the stereotypes for all typology and you will see this in most pre title sequences that you watch as the typology always reflects the genre of the film and what themes are used throughout the film.

This comment that I have highlighted will help me when making my pre title sequence as it will be a basic guideline for me to follow when it comes to using different font to communicate my genre to the audience. Even though I haven’t highlighted it, the point made just before that states ‘convey the tone of a movie through the dressage’ this is a very good point to me as it links in with not only typology and design but also with the codes and conventions of a pre title sequence as the pre title sequence has to show some link through how it has been show and the way in which it has been made, so in my opinion this is a good point that clearly indicates that a pre title sequence is to show the themes and the tone of what the film they are about to watch is like.


3) Figures such as Saul Bass, Pablo Ferro, Maurice Binder and Richard Williams arrived on the scene in the 1950s, at a time when the studios were starting to flounder in their fight with TV. At that time, independent filmmakers made commercial headway by doing things differently, spreading utterly fresh ideas about the possibilities of title sequences. This is the era in which the discipline of film title sequence design was actually born.

The point that I have highlighted here isn’t really something that I can use in my own pre title sequence or gives me any ideas as to what I can do but this point interests me a lot and almost makes me want to slam my first onto the table as these few words get my heart racing as it is a statement that should be said fiercely as it is the beginning of something that has turned into something truly spectacular and it started will all those names above.

Essentially the names above this point that I have highlighted were the names that made what pre title sequences what they are and that is spectacular and unique. Yes maybe film theorists can look at pre title sequences and say that it maybe all well and easy to communicate the genre through the typology, visuals and sound but it isn’t all that simple and it is people such as Saul Bass who put that effort in and made what could be the most unique set of pre title sequences of our day and age as it is what many such as Kyle Cooper have looked to for inspiration and ideas for pre title sequences that they have been working on at the time.

4) The imagery behind the credits received a lot more attention. Still, the interplay of typography and images was by no means ignored. Popular trends of the 1950s were using three-dimensional lettering and embedding type in physical artifacts such as embroidery and signage. In contrast, Saul Bass often approached the lettering of a main title as he would a logo, making it function as the core element in a full marketing campaign. While the variety of solutions increased considerably, their anchor was always the relationship of on-screen typography to the movie itself.

What I have highlighted above even though is quite a lot has to be highlighted as it shows this whole point more clearly with the two sentences in. The two sentences I have shown above indicate to me just how much of a risk Saul Bass took in order to change the way designers can go about making a pre title sequence and in order to change this way which is a huge thing, here it seems to me that he put his career on the line just to revolutionise the way people look at pre title design and how you can go about with making them.

I have selected this part above as to me it makes the point about title designers that it is sometimes all about trial and error and that you have to put your neck on the line in order to discover new things about pre title sequence design and sequence design in general and this is what Saul bass has done which I like in my opnion as I prefer people who take risks in their job to try and discover something new even thougn they know that there career could be over, they are still willing to try that something new because they know the reward for title design as a subject and they know the vast changes they could make to the way audiences look at title design and just the pairing of pre title sequence design and the audience in general. Title designers such as Saul Bass know the consequences but they are still willing to take that risk in order to make title design that little bit better and that makes me feel respect for him as a title designer.

5) Throughout the history of cinema, film titles have evolved with the film industry, as well as with social trends and fashion movements. But the measure of a title design’s quality is the same now as it was in the silent era. Whatever function they perform, titles remain an essential part of film.

Here I have highlighted two points in this paragraph as I felt strongly about the both of them and that I can write plenty on the two. The first point that I have highlighted is that ‘film titles have evolved with the film industry’, I feel strongly about this point as I think that the both have grown together and one of the main factors has been technology that has propelled them both and made them evolve together. Technology has done this by the way it gives the designers and the people behind the scenes who make the magic happen that freedom to experiment with things and make things happen and without technology, there wouldn’t be half the amount of pre title sequences that we have now as most are down to technology and the computer programmes that have been created in order to make the designs for pre title sequences.

Finally the second point that I have highlighted above could be linked with the first point, however I think this point can be linked with many things and I think its best to look at it on its own as it just opens up so many debates about pre title sequence and there are plenty of points in which you can make about this but I one hundred percent agree with this statement as what ever functions they do perform, titles do remain an essential part in the film as they communicate to the audience many things such as the tone, some of the themes, also hints to the genre, it could also indicate patterns to the audience about what sort of sound and editing to expect as well as what cinematography (camera angels and movements) may occur during the film. This sentence that I have highlighted basically sums up the fundamentals of why pre title sequences are used, it is because no matter what they do and how they are made, they are still vital to the film as they are the openers for films that communicate and indicate what the rest of the film may be like to the audience.

In-conclusion, this piece of work that I have done here has helped me to establish just how pre title sequence design come about and how over the past years technology has changed and affected the way title sequences are made and designed. Also picking out 5 points from this website has made me see what sort of person I am myself as I have picked out the pieces of information that I have found most important but at the same time the most interesting to me and I have analysed them using my own thoughts and opinions. Overall when I look back at this piece of work I think it has once again helped me to establish some more of the pre title sequence designers and how individually and as a team their work has contributed the revolutionary of title sequence design and how they have changed it for the better or have made it that little more interesting to analyse.