Giving Credit to the Credits
At times when I go to the movies, I enjoy the opening credits for them more so than the movies themselves. I am always a sucker for effective visuals and impacting motion graphics. I had this experience last weekend when I went to see Casino Royale.
The opening credits for the latest 007 movie were, in my opinion, more creative than the story (was there one?) presented in the film. Thanks to YouTube, you can see it for yourself here:
Of course, the impact is much better on the big screen and the heart motif was a little overused. But, I thought the colors, movement, illustrations, and other design elements used were great.
Another movie that comes to mind when I think of opening credits for movies is the one for Catch Me If You Can. Thank you, YouTube, here it is:
The credits for this film had a story-within-a-story and I loved it. Once again, I thought the opening credits were better than the actual movie, but this film was much better than Casino Royale.
I'd be interested to hear what your favorite opening credit sequences for movies are, if you've ever thought about it. Motion graphics can be quite captivating and I always get a tear in my eye when they're used in a way to get me pulled-in to the movie - sometimes even for a bad one.
It's not a movie, but I love the opening credits of the series 'Carnivale' - they're quite long for a TV show and beautifully done. The artwork and animation for the DVD menus is also gorgeous.
I was also impressed with 'Fight Club', 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Napoleon Dynamite', and 'Edward Scissorhands'.
Mike,
I think you'd be interested in the following link:
http://www.ms-studio.com/typecasting.html
It's on the use and misuse of period typography in movies.
Enjoy!
-Steve