Comments on: ROLL THE CREDITS!

By: Medusa

Medusa — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:11:26 +0000

You're probably all aware of this neat site, but if you're not, Steven Hill's Movie Title Screen Page is a wonderful repository of just what it says, and it's beautiful! Well worth a visit and I guarantee you'll be hooked — you can't look at just one!Here's the link: http://www.shillpages.com/movies/index2.shtmlEnjoy!

By: MDR

MDR — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:00:14 +0000

I've pondered this topic before and we may have discussed it on the message boards at one time. The first film I thought of was To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), so artfully done. BTW, I think there really was a "titles" category in the early days of the Academy Awards!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:33:21 +0000

Carli,I was being facetious about creating an Oscar category for movie credits. I haven't taken the Academy Awards nominations seriously in years. And you're right. Our favorite movie moments are usually more memorable than who won what award.

By: carli

carli — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 11:12:07 +0000

I respectfully disagree. We don't need more Oscar categories. (If anything , we need fewer.) Great titles (as well as great performances, costumes, scripts, etc.) are rewarded by securing a spot in our memories and in motion picture history. I can't tell you who won Best Picture in 1959 (maybe Ben Hur?), but I sure as heck will always remember the opening titles for North by Northwest. An Oscar won't change that.

By: Medusa

Medusa — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 09:08:51 +0000

Of course, there's the recent trend to NO opening credit sequences, as such, just get right on into the movie — of course I can't specifically recall a title right now — but I always thought that it was entirely possible that a theater audience might end up completely unaware of the origins of anything that they had just seen, since so few stick around for the end credits. As somebody who used to program movies for commercial TV, we loved the NO credits since it got you right into the movie and every opportunity for somebody to tune out was something we wanted to avoid. And you didn't want them at the end, either! Which led to those impossibly fast credit rolls compressed down from the really long credits of most theatricals. Which mostly get squeezed onto half of the screen in many cases, anyway! Great article, Jeff, and now I want to see those movies, too!

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:46:44 +0000

There have been times were the most memorable portions of the films have been tied to the opening credits. Think of the wonderful Pink Panther openings. I would venture to say this technique hit its zenith in the Mod-look sixties where every film seemed to have some quirky look to this sequence. And Disney did have it's share.And lately, all the superhero movies and animated features exploit this wonderful deivce a la Pixar and the comic panel look. Thanks for pointing out the fact that this particular creativity is often overlooked and is deserving of re-examination. It will make me focus a little more on every film I watch.