Kyle Cooper is a
well-known title sequence designer. He has created some of the most interesting
opening sequences in a lot of our well-known and loved films. He has been
credited as the man who single handedly, made main title sequences a form of
art. He is founder of two L.A based film design companies, Imaginary Forces and
Prologue Films. They are both internationally recognized and are very
influential in their field.
A piece of work
that has been imitated and mimicked many a time, is his work on the ‘Se7en’
opening title sequence that was created in 1995. This piece of art changed the
way we think and view title sequences today. The New York Magazine confidently
named it “One of the most important design innovations of the 1990s” Cooper is
particularly interested typography and how it can contribute to the
plot,‘Se7en’ is a prime example of this. The sequence uses a handwritten style type;
this is to mimic what the character in the title sequence is doing. The type
seems to deteriorate and destruct itself; this could be to foreshadow future
events within the film. This links to another favourite area that Cooper loves,
movement. In every opening sequence, or in fact any work he has done, he
revolves the type and titles around movement. The dynamic effect of this is
what makes his work so great.
Microorganisms
under magnification also particularly fascinate Kyle Cooper. He enjoys seeing
something so small look so incredible, and so he aims to recreate these things
for his title sequences. In ‘The Island of Moreau’ main titles, we can see
this fascination in action. Using the knowledge I have on Cooper and how he
thinks that an opening should reflect what is important within the storyline of
the film, I can gather that some sort of scientific aspect is going to be
portrayed in this film. The type used is reasonably standard to suggest a sense
of formality, perhaps due to the scientific register. It then begins to get a
bit manic, suggesting that there is more of a cryptic vibe about all the science
that goes on in this film. Again, he uses constant movement to keep the opening
sequence interesting and dynamic.
Another great
title designer is Jamie Caliri, he is slightly different to Cooper as he has a
major passion in stop-motion animation. He describes his design process as
different to many other designers. He believes that the best way in which to
create a sequence is to find the beats of the story and then fill in the gaps
once you have decided on the definite poignant moments. In one of his most
famous sequences, ‘United States of Tara’ we can see his love for stop motion
being used. He believes that every little move made by these animated
characters has a reason. For example, in the ‘United States of Tara’ opening a
cockroach scuttles across the floor. Rather than stepping on it directly, she
places a hankie over the bug, steps on the hankie and then vacuums it up. This
suggests something about her character, she may like to order and perfection.
You could go deeper to say that rather than facing a problem head on, she
covers it up and then deals with it. All this is being said from a mere three
to five seconds of film. Another incredibly famous piece of work by Jamie
Caliri, is his animated end credit sequence for ‘Lemony Snickets – A Series of
Unfortunate Events’. This sequence earned him a lot of respect and credit in
the world of graphic artistry and animation.
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