Some watch the Super Bowl for just the comÂmerÂcials. OthÂers watch films for the title sequences that bookÂend a movie. Title sequences can be “engagÂing or wildÂly enterÂtainÂing … or simÂply drop dead beauÂtiÂful.” They can “ooze with visuÂal poetÂry and sophisÂtiÂcatÂed imagery,” or they can put the audiÂence in the right mood for the movie, or close it in the right way, writes the web site ForÂget the Films, Watch the Titles.
But it hasÂn’t always been this way. DurÂing the earÂly days of cinÂeÂma, title sequences were often crude and inforÂmaÂtionÂal. That startÂed to change with the advent of sound film, when title sequences took on aesÂthetÂic dimenÂsions they hadÂn’t known before. By the 1950s and 1960s, they became a high art form, espeÂcialÂly in the hands of the iconÂic graphÂic designÂer Saul Bass. The hisÂtoÂry, phiÂlosÂoÂphy and aesÂthetÂics of the title sequence — espeÂcialÂly the openÂing credÂits — all get covÂered by The Film Before the Film, a short, inforÂmaÂtive film born out of a research project at the BerlinÂer TechÂnisÂche KunÂsthochschule. It runs 9 to 11 minÂutes, dependÂing on whether you count the closÂing title sequence!
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