Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Wednesday Website Write-Up: The Art of the Title Sequence

The Art of the Title Sequence is one of those sites I get really excited to find because it kind of reaffirms why the Internet even exists: so we can have these lovely celebrations of the little pleasures in life, so often overlooked. In this case, title sequences in films and television shows! Yaaaaay!

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It's a great site, examining quality opening credit sequences both past and present. There's so many really classic and beautiful ones up there, it's hard to pick favourites (but of course I have a soft spot for illustration). It's fascinating, though, to observe the kind of work that goes into making a very good, punchy title sequence. And to think about the whole psychological function of title sequences... a really great one always seems to take me by surprise; it sort of immediately sweetens the whole deal for me just like that. You never really expect one so it's like the cherry on top of everything else. Of course it also then raises the bar for the actual movie itself, which can then be a bit of an anticlimax, fading gently away in the residue left over after the first few glorious minutes.

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(Speaking of which.) If nothing else, I love this site for the ability to watch the title sequence of Up in the Air as many times as one likes. Would that that sequence made up the entire movie - I find it brilliant and hypnotizing and could watch it all day.
This land is your land! Say what you like about Jason Reitman's movies but he really knows how to make an entrance.

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