opening titles – FILMdetail

Saul Bass is the graphic designer who created the opening titles and posters to some of the greatest films ever made.

During his illustrious 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese.

This recent visual history was assembled by Ian Albinson of Art of the Title to coincide with the new book “Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design” by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham.

The book is available on Amazon US and the music is “Fonkmaster’s Interlude” by Greg Fonkmaster B.

> More on Saul Bass at Wikipedia
> Art of the Title & Twitter & Facebook
> A Brief History of Title Design
> Art of the Title

The opening titles of a film can be very revealing as to how a film turns out and some (especially those by Kubrick and Hitchcock) can be iconic in their own right.

Why is this?

Partly I think it’s a statement of intent on behalf of the filmmakers but there is also something magical about the anticipation of what you might soon be experiencing – is it going to be Citizen Kane or White Chicks?

You never really know until it starts to unfold but the opening titles often give a tantalising glimpse of what lies ahead, be it good or bad.

With that in mind, web designer Christian Annyas has posted an amazing selection of movie titles which are arranged by decade, from 1929 to 2009.

> New York Times Magazine article on opening titles
> The classic opening titles of North By Northwest