Analysis of contempary vs. older title sequences...(Items 1-6 of Research Evidence)

For my analysis the two title sequence designers i have chosen are Saul Bass and Paul Donnellon. I have chosen Paul Donnellon as i have researched his work before and he continues to have contemporary elements to all of his title sequences. I have chosen Saul Bass as i have looked upon some of his work previously and found out that he has inspired many title sequence designers. I found some evidence to this is some aspects of Donnellons title sequences appear to have Saul Bass interpretations. To star off with it shall be better to look upon Saul Bass' work to illustrate the theory of him inspiring many other title sequence designers.

Saul Bass:
When looking at Saul Bass' work there are many elements to all of his title sequences that are similar he definately seems to have his own style and mark on things. Spirals and the use of lines are very prominent throughout Bass' work, this is a good key in making him a recognisable figure. The main reason why i chose to look at Saul Bass is that he has worked on many famous old movies, and the ways in which he chooses to project the emotions and illustrate the genres interests me. I believe this has indeed helped to path the way title sequence designers work today, Bass' use of relatable music and iconography really demonstrate the themes of the film early on for audiences.When looking at Saul Bass' work one particular title sequence stood out for me and this was from the film "Psycho". As i have seen this film many times before and watching after say a huge blockbuster movie you can definately see how the newer films have incorporated these elements of music and typography into there movies. Here is a link to the title sequence in particular...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tek8QmKRODw

Paul Donnellon:

When looking at the work of Paul Donnellon i found his references to comic books and cartoons very interesting. He seems to take a very humorous angle to them, yet very surreal in a sense as he puts in iconic elements to the film. For example a particular prop or a characteristic of a person within the film. His work seems very rare to me as i feel as if not many title sequence designers choose to use cartoon Esq title sequences when the film is not in fact a cartoon at all. I feel as if this is a unique edge to Donnellon and as if he is trying to relate to older title sequence designers. Now to compare this to that of a piece of work by Paul Donnellon, I chosen the film "Smokin Aces" although this film in particular may not be seen as brand new. It is still contemporary as it was made in 2006 this is still a vast time difference to that of "Psycho" which was made in 1960. I have chosen "Smokin Aces" because it has similar themes and conventions to psycho. As "Smokin Aces" is a crime drama i feel its relatable to that of "Psycho" as it has the same elements of desperation and anticipation. One feature i found in the title sequence to "Smokin Aces" was its uses of blocked shapes and colours. This is what made the title sequence stand out for me with references to comic books. This shows massive similarities to Saul Bass by the ways in which Donnellon uses block lines and the movements of the lines are comparative to Bass'. Below is the title sequence to "Smokin Aces".

Bass inspiring new and contemporary title sequence designers has been proved. There are many similarities between the two title sequences that can even be broken down even more, into there connotations perhaps being similar. Yet in looking at the differences that are evident we can see that the times have changed. Th technology is far more advanced in the present, so the use of advanced cartoons and cgi are changing the ways in which we view our title sequences. As we can see from comparing the two the Saul Bass' title sequence is far more simplistic. Where as Paul Donnellon's is visually more compelling and divulges into the characters and the themes more. e

I feel as if analysing who prevails old or contemporary, that it is close to a draw but overall i think in my own personal opinion that old prevails. Looking at many title sequences you can see the Saul Bass' inspirations. For example the other day i watched "Sweeny Todd" and was astounded to see so many Saul Bass' references. Through spirals and swirls to project his iconic imagery into a contemporary film. This is an example in which for me sums up conclusively why i feel old prevails. As other the many years Saul Bass is still being referred to a lot, this is a vast achievement. Also this has shaped how we view title sequences all together, so in a sense we are thankful to Saul Bass as now we have compelling and structurally beautiful and iconic imagery to introduce to us plenty of movies.