Forget the Film, Watch the Titles

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Thu, 19 Dec 2013 14:24:00 +0100

With the holiday season already upon us, we’re turning our focus to a nostalgia-soaked title sequence that’s been making millions of us feel warm and fuzzy for generations. Over the last five decades, the now iconic 1964 Rankin & Bass film, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, has become just about as an important part of Christmas as eggnog, nutcrackers and snowmen.

Clear History

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:59:00 +0200

The title sequence for Clear History does exactly what it should — perfectly evoke the meaning of the title and plot of the movie into strikingly symbolic visuals. The deceptively simple-looking opening and closing titles elevate the viewer into the state of mind of the film and the story experience. Creative Director Aaron Becker takes us behind-the-scenes and discusses cascading menu's, colla...

ADBNE 2013

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:30:00 +0200

Update: Breeder wins the prestigious APDG Award for Title Design for their ADBNE title sequence! Congratulations to the Breeder team!
For the Analogue/Digital conference in Brisbane, Breeder created a sensual journey with a refined and delicate aesthetic to honour the concept of “double exposure”. Glimpses of models stripped bare, their soft torsos and curves become moving canvases to host strik...

Laurent Brett interview

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:15:00 +0200

Not only is he the most productive title designer working in France today, Laurent Brett is also the only designer we ever met, or know of, who has had a puppet made of himself. Meet this chameleon of a designer, able to master any style and technique. We interviewed Laurent in studio Sabotage in Paris (what an inspiring place to work!), where he talks about his work as a title designer, about...

Hostage

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 15:53:00 +0200

The Frank Miller's Sin City-inspired title sequence for Florent Siri's 2005 thriller Hostage places the viewer right in the center of a high profile crime scene taking place in one of L.A's upscale suburbs. The action scene - rendered in stark black-and-off-white, with deep blood red as the only supporting color - is frozen is frozen in time. As the camera pans across the scene, alternating bet...

OFFF Barcelona 2013 - Mr. Emilton's Cabinet of Curiosities

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:15:00 +0200

The fuss about the annual Main Titles for the OFFF event in Barcelona might seem like a bit of a hype. But at least it's a substantiated hype. And it's a daunting challenge for any designer to live up to it. Especially true when you're a total newcomer to the scene, like From Form. But these guys delivered. This new studio caught everyone by surprise with a meticulously designed short live acti...

Vikings

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 17:44:00 +0200

We were immediately struck by the atmospheric Main Title for Vikings, with its darkly lucid stream of impressionistic images that seem to have been pulled straight out of the cauldron of our collective unconscious. We got in touch with Creative Director Rama Allen, who you might remember from the stylistically related and much-lauded True Blood Titles. Rama talks about our “vestigial need” for ...

Manhunt

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:37:00 +0200

Introducing Manija Emran, typographer. Ever since we first saw the process for the end credit sequence for Rango, Manija's beautiful hand-drawn Western-style typography struck a massive chord here at Watch the Titles, and we've been following her work since. Formerly at Prologue, where she created memorable typography for films such as Robin Hood, Breaking Dawn and Fright Night, Manija is now a...

Darius Ghanai interview

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:49:00 +0200

Germany's most prolific title designer, Darius Ghanai has designed over 50 title sequences and posters for critically acclaimed European films such as Good Bye Lenin!, Perfume and Palermo Shooting. On a crispy sunny morning in May, we visited the friendly designer in his former studio located in Berlin's Mitte district, close to where Good Bye Lenin! was shot. We talked for hours about title de...

Visual Arabia 2013

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:26:00 +0200

Influenced by the tradition and form of Arabic calligraphy, Juan Behren’s opening titles for Visual Arabia 2013 explore the beauty and mystique of this centuries old form of communication and art. Watch the Titles editor Rani Nugraha has a chat with the Computer Programmer turned Motion Designer about learning Arabic script, reigning in ideas, and the complexities of being ambitious.

N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:23:00 +0200

After having struggled with the opening titles for his documentary about the audiovisual collaboration N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo, animator and director Syd Garon had somewhat of an epiphany when he saw Simon C Page's posters for The International Year Of Astronomy. Like a tailored suit, Page's stylishly minimal geometric shapes representing celestial bodies in orbit proved to be the perfect...

Onesize interview

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:04:00 +0100

Amsterdam-based motion design studio Onesize has built a solid reputation for themselves in recent years. This is partly due to their eye-catching and technologically advanced opening titles for two big design events in 2009, OFFF and Playgrounds. Back in 2010 we shot a video profile with Onesize founders Kasper Verweij and Rogier Hendriks in their, then, brand-new and freshly painted Amsterdam...

Playgrounds 2009

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:03:00 +0100

A series of stills depicting two hardened thugs in a bare-knuckle scrap, are rendered in three dimensions against a bleak, urban backdrop. For Holland’s Playgrounds Festival, Onesize used this metaphor of the creative process which too, often presents an internal battle of wills. As high impact meets slow motion for heightened drama, this sequence mesmerizes from start to finish.

FITC Amsterdam 2013

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:34:00 +0100

With an Enter-the-Void-esque design and concept artwork created by GMUNK, Dutch design studio Onesize took it a step further and produced and directed the hypnotic main titles for last month’s FITC edition taking place on our home turf in Amsterdam. We were privy to watching them debut on the big screen, and following the event we chatted up Rogier Hendriks of Onesize to find out more about thi...

Strike Back

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:15:00 +0100

Momoco created the opening titles for Sky1's military action series Strike Back. His concept, says designer Nic Benns, was “human, gritty, and informative.” But when HBO came on board as co-producer, the execs demanded a rebrand. Ergo, new titles. What changed? “They wanted sex,” Nic says. The (happy) end of this story is of course that this 'sexified' version of the titles was nominated for an...

Daniel Kleinman interview

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:31:00 +0100

Our video interview with Bond designer Daniel Kleinman is back online, and now includes the official clips from the amazing Skyfall title sequence. A few days before the world premiere of Skyfall, our interview crew visited Daniel at Rattling Stick, the collective of (currently) 11 directors he co-founded in 2006. Rich with stories and anecdotes, Daniel takes us on a tour of his studio's office...

Top 10 Most Viewed in 2012

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:29:00 +0100

We usually do popularity contests, but as we prep for a no doubt exciting year for title design, it's nice to see which title sequences topped the proverbial charts in 2012 here at Watch the Titles. The winner is a surprise for sure, a student who created an unofficial title sequence made for a school project.

ManvsMachine interview

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:37:00 +0100

Title design and ident design are like fraternal twins, they don't share the exact same DNA, but they have got a whole lot in common. Which explains our unbridled admiration for ManvsMachine – a motion studio from the UK who have gained a lot of attention for their stunning and highly imaginative brand identities for a international tv networks such More4, SyFy, Nickelodeon, Chiller, and Kanal...

The Borrowers

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:55:00 +0100

Forget child prodigy wizards with lightening shaped birthmarks and hipster glasses. Children’s books of yesteryear used to be a touch more quaint. Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s novel, “The Borrowers” was a 159 page literary hit for a knee high demographic in the UK and has since sparked numerous movie adaptations. For this recent made-for-tv adaptation of The Borrowers, Clemens Wirth created a...

Dr. No

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:04:00 +0100

When you see a man in a tuxedo holding a gun, you immediately identify him as James Bond. When you see the first few seconds of the gun barrel sequence, you know that a Bond movie is about to start. Sexy silhouettes? John Barry's 007 Theme? Bond! It was Maurice Binder who designed the titles for the first Bond movie Dr. No in 1962, creating all the elements that became iconic for the Bond unive...