Monday, June 22, 2009

More than just a list of names

8:50 PM / Animation / Comments11 Comments

Animation
Blu-ray

The Art of the Title Sequence, a web site dedicated to celebrating - did you guess right? - title sequences in movies and television series, has put together a very interesting piece on the imaginative and rather artsy end credits that accompanied Pixar's 2008 hit Wall-E. Consisting of an interview with director Jim Capobianca and animator Alexander Woo, it covers the inspiration and meaning behind the sequence, as well as the technical and logistical issues the team faced in putting it together.

Title sequences are an under-appreciated aspect of movies, and those that are anything more than merely functional are sadly becoming increasingly rare. The great Saul Bass designs for the likes of Vertigo and North by Northwest are now very much the artefacts of a bygone age, with present-day credits all too often being nothing more than white text flashing on and off or scrolling up a black background. There are, of course, exceptions - the James Bond series, for instance, has maintained its tradition of displaying the principal credits at the start of each movie, accompanied by imaginative graphics. Pixar are another fine example of a company that does credits differently. Having come up with the idea of "animated outtakes" (a tradition that quickly became intensely irritating as every other CGI animation house latched on to the idea), the studio has repeatedly sought to make their credits interesting, so viewers have a reason not to leave the movie theatre as soon as the film proper comes to an end. The Incredibles and Ratatouille both did amazing stuff with stylised 2D animation, and Wall-E continued the tradition in very much the same vein.

Can anyone who saw Up theatrically tell me what they did for the credits of that particular film?

Source: Cartoon Brew

 
11 Comments

1. Peter von Frosta said:

You can also add the credits of most Jackie Chan flicks which contain very often outtakes of his bone-shattering stunts.

And then there're the credits of Sunshine which repeat some of the most jaw-dropping scenes of the movie.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 1:09 AM)

2. Marcus said:

The end credits at the end of UP consist of a picture book (the main character showing his own "adventure") similar to the end credits of Lilo and Stitch. Some of he picures made the audience laugh out loud.

But I still miss the days when the credits were at the start of the film and not in the end. Very sad to see even David Fischer (who used to love putting creative title sequences) selling out to the plain title card.

Saul Bass and Maurice Binder were the best opening titles artists IMO.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4:22 AM)

3. Baron Scarpia said:

Tim Burton at least has a go. Credits often involve the fetishisation of objects (the Batman logo) or tracing the path of something (the cradle holding the Penguin, a chocolate bar in Willy Wonka's factory, blood through Mrs Lovett's pie shop).

(Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 5:23 PM)

4. Johan said:

Ang lee's "Hulk" is a nice modern example as well.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 5:51 PM)

5. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Lots of interesting examples there, folks - thanks for posting 'em and keep 'em coming. David Fincher (rather than Fischer) is another filmmaker who used to do interesting things with his credits, as with Se7en and Panic Room (although I felt the latter wasn't as good in its execution as it was in theory). Sadly, he seems to have become enamoured to bland, generic titles if The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is anything to go by, although given that "bland" and "generic" are adjectives that describe the film itself quite effectively, perhaps the style (or lack thereof) of the credits was appropriate there.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 7:41 PM)

6. Marcus said:

Sorry, for some reason I always mispell Fincher's last name. However I would use "bland" and "generic" to describe the film's script but not the way it was shot.

But yes, there were still some amazing credits sequences this decade. Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, Ang Lee's Hulk, the 2000s James Bond films, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and many others.

(Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 6:03 AM)

7. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Ah, I thought you were referring to a title designer called David Fischer. My mistake. And personally, I thought Benjamin Button's visuals were every bit as flat and lifeless as the script.

And it's true, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang did have great titles, now that you mention it.

(Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 8:28 AM)

8. Marcus said:

You thought the visuals in Button were flat? I thought the film looked as stunning as Fincher's best works with every single frame being gorgeous to look at. It certainly does not look like the generic 2 hour + Oscar pick.

(Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 5:10 PM)

9. Marcus said:

...then again I also thought it did not work to the film's advantage (at least a film of this kind) to have every shot look so stylish as it does take us away from the characters.

(Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 5:13 PM)

10. Author Profile Page Michael said:

I thought it looked incredibly bland, yes. Ditto with Zodiac, shot with the same cameras. I think that since Fincher parted ways with Darius Khondji, the visual side of his films (arguably their strongest point, actually) has become considerably less impressive. Even Panic Room, whose cinematography was completed by Conrad Hall after Fincher and Khondji's bust-up, was in my opinion far more visually arresting than his two subsequent digital productions.

(Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 8:15 PM)

11. Marcus said:

Zodiac was visually his least impressive work but I don't think it needed to be. It had an excellent script. Button did not.

(Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:31 AM)

 
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