lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (04/06/85)
Here's a topic that might be worthy of some minor discussion. There are some films over the years that have made a unique art form out of opening and/or closing credit sequences. In some cases, they turn out to be even more creative than the rest of the film. I'm curious as to which films the community has found to be the most memorable when it comes to credit sequences (at either the beginning and/or the end). There are quite a few I could mention, but I'll leave the field fairly open and only mention three: "West Side Story" (closing credits): Long sequence of credits, mostly scribbled among random graffito on walls, doors, streets, etc. Very unique. "Casino Royale" (opening): Excellent (bizarre) animated figures surrounding credits, and a wide variety of techniques used to bring up and tear down the various credit entries. (closing): Scenes from the film (also used to a minor degree in the opening credits) at various speeds and in various temporal sequences, with widely varying credit appearance/clearing techniques. (opening and closing) Excellent music sync with art/credits. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (opening) Brilliantly edited and scored opening (primarily sung and acted by Zero Mostel) in which part of the time Zero speaks directly to the camera to "set up" the characters for the film. Superbly done. ["Something erratic, something dramatic, something for everyone--A comedy, tonight!"] (closing) Very bizarre animated sequence with a swarm of flies leading us from credit to credit through a series of optical illusions and other imaginative graphics. ---- OK, I'll avoid mentioning more for now. How about some others? --Lauren--
shore@adobe.UUCP (Andrew Shore) (04/07/85)
+- Two movies come to my mind immediately. One (which I just saw last week) is "Blood Simple." I thought the opening credits (with titles appearing as oncoming headlights flare through the rain on the windshield and the wipers wisking them away) were great. "Farenheight 451" has credits which are SPOKEN (against pictures of TV antennas on all the houses) -- since the written word is outlawed in the story. I'm sure there are lots of others. Let's hear your favorites! --Andy
barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) (04/08/85)
How about the opening credits to the film version of "Fahrenheit 451",
which were SPOKEN, not printed. This fits in with the plot of the story
well, since it is about a time when books are banned and presumably
there is little unnecessary reading (I don't remember whether there were
any streetsigns or other writing in the film).
--
Barry Margolin
ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics
UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmarpleasant@topaz.ARPA (Mel Pleasant) (04/08/85)
> From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) > There are some films over the years that have made a unique art > form out of opening and/or closing credit sequences. In some > cases, they turn out to be even more creative than the rest > of the film. I'm curious as to which films the community > has found to be the most memorable when it comes to credit > sequences (at either the beginning and/or the end). Back when I was an undergraduate, a group of us, all from the Music Department, went to see a movie called "Kentucky Fried Movie". As far as we were concerned, the movie bombed. However, as the crowd left during the closing credits, we sat there doubled over in laughter at the performance of the closing music behind the credits. If I remember correctly, a woman was performing her version of "At the Copa Cabana". It was an exceptional performance when you consider that she was purposely making mistakes; dropping lines, forgetting words, singing out of key, etc... To top it off, her pianist did a great job staying with her while making mistakes of his own. The next time you see the movie around go see it, if only for the closing credits...... -- -Mel Pleasant uucp: ...{harvard, seismo, ut-sally, sri-iu, ihnp4!packard}!topaz!pleasant arpa: PLEASANT@RUTGERS
sethian@acf4.UUCP (sethian) (04/08/85)
What about Monty Python and the Holy Grail? (...wait, the author of this note has been sacked...)
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (04/08/85)
The opening credits to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail!" -- James C. Armstrong, Jnr. ihnp4!abnji!nyssa Your system is wrong! We sell ourselves cheaply, for nothing, to such as Sil. I see my words mean nothing, you want this system of Varos to continue. So be it.
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (04/09/85)
Right! "F. 451" definitely qualifies for my "Film Credit Hall of Fame". Another one (very obscure) is the closing credits for "Skidoo" (a bizarre late 60's film with a tremendous number of stars in the cast. The only film where Jackie Gleason takes an acid trip...) The closing credits to this film were displayed conventionally, but were also simultaneously sung/spoken by a chorus of men, including copyright and distribution notices, etc. Extremely bizarre. --Lauren--
mathnews2@watdcsu.UUCP (mathNOOS [editors]) (04/09/85)
And then of course, there is always the ... different style of credits
which you could really not expect from any other, Monty Python and the
Quest for the Holy Grail (which makes Ben Hur look like an epic!).
Starting with subtitled credits that take off on a story of their own,
they in themselves make the movie something worth watching (except for
the fact that the rest of the movie also makes the movie something
worth watching). Wherelse can you hear about a guy whose sister was
bitten by a moose, or discuss who taught the llama how to tapdance so
well? And of course, the ending credits are a treasure; the film is
just yanked out of the projector before there's a chance to see any!
--Scooter! @ mathNEWS 2 (mathnews2)
--
mathNEWS--the math student newspaper at the University of Waterloo
{allegra|clyde|linus|ihnp4|decvax}!watmath!watdcsu!mathnews2 UUCP
mathnews2%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet CSNET
mathnews2@watdcsu NETNORTHph@wudma.UUCP (04/09/85)
> Here's a topic that might be worthy of some minor discussion. > There are some films over the years that have made a unique art > form out of opening and/or closing credit sequences. In some > cases, they turn out to be even more creative than the rest > of the film. I'm curious as to which films the community > has found to be the most memorable when it comes to credit > sequences (at either the beginning and/or the end). *** RELINE THIS PLACE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** The ones that come to my mind straight off (I'll probably think of about a dozen more tonight and post them tomorrow, but--) are: A Shot In The Dark (probably most of the other Pink Panther movies as well, but I don't remember them so well) opening: great animated sequence with allusions to tons of other memorable films; the SOUND OF MUSIC one always kills me. Being There closing: outtakes from the movie itself, with Peter Sellers cracking up in the middle of one of Chance's idiotic lines. Funny that they're both Sellers movies, isn't it? Oh, I know, here's another Zero Mostel flick: The Producers. The opening credits interleaved with Mostel's character resignedly--er, paying court to little old ladies I always thought a scream. I'm glad to see that someone else likes to watch credits. I am sometimes the only person left in the theatre after sitting through the closing credits to the very very end. --pH /* * "Key grip, Bill Horst--wait a minute, now what else did I see * him in?" */
jay@umd5.UUCP (04/09/85)
I think that my favorite credit sequence is the one that opens "The Stunt Man" which makes plain very quickly that we are about to be subjected to a very strange and wonderful film. I wish I'd seen it more recently so I could be more specific. Other memorable sequences are those used by Alfred Hitchcock to open "North By Northwest", "Psycho", "Vertigo" and "The Birds", all of which were designed (I'm pretty sure) by graphics artist Saul Bass (who also did the credits for "Anatomy of a Murder". One footnote, the opening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (and its sequel but to less effect) nicely cross-fades the Paramount logo with a strikingly similar real-life mountain. After all, fantasy and reality aren't really so far apart. -- Jay Elvove ..!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umd5!jay
dba@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (David Anderson) (04/09/85)
THX 1138 has interesting opening credits -- they run backwards. Like normal credits, they are meant to be read from the top down, but they appear at the top of the screen and scroll down, which requires extra effort to read them. -- David.Anderson@cmu-cs-k.ARPA ..!seismo!cmu-cs-k!dba (412) 422-1255
terryl@tekcrl.UUCP () (04/09/85)
Well, I'm probably gonna get flamed for this, but I loved the opening credits to Monty Python's "Holy Grail"!!!The credits had me rolling on the floor and the movie hadn't even started yet!!!!
jackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (04/09/85)
> > How about the opening credits to the film version of "Fahrenheit 451", > which were SPOKEN, not printed. This fits in with the plot of the story > well, since it is about a time when books are banned and presumably > there is little unnecessary reading (I don't remember whether there were > any streetsigns or other writing in the film). > -- > Barry Margolin There are no signs at all in the film, everything is pictograms. There is a scene early on in the film showing Montag "reading" a newspaper. It is essentially a giant comic book with no words; every thing is pantomine. As for creative credits, how about "The Great Race" with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon? The opening credits were an animated magic lantern show complete with audience reactions: Cheeers for Tony Curtis' credit, boos for Jack Lemon, whistles and stomps for Natalie Wood, etc. They even put some in upside down, etc., for effect. -- Jack Hagerty, Zehntel Automation Systems ...!ihnp4!zehntel!jackh
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (04/10/85)
Well, we can give the Python gang one entry in the Hall of Fame. Since they tend to ALWAYS play around with their credits to some extent, it has become almost "normal" for them. But sure, let's give "Holy Grail" one entry. --Lauren--
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (04/10/85)
The recent film "Repo Man" also ran the credits downwards, by the way. --Lauren--
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (04/10/85)
Others:
ANY Python film ("Moose Trainer")
THE STUNT MAN (opening credits): Like some knod of bizarre invention, we
follow the interaction of a buzzard, a helicopter, a dog, a police car, and
the goings-on inside a dinner while the credits roll.
THE SEVEN-PERCENT SOLUTION: Used wonderful old Sidney Paget Sherlock Holmes
sketches to represent the different characters.
BEING THERE (closing credits): Remember in the ORIGINAL film (before
video), the closing credits were of Sellers retaking and retaking a scene
over? Funny...
BUCKAROO BANZAI (closing credits): Well, *I* liked 'em...
Also, while not theatrical, both of John Le Carre's spy novels brought to TV
(TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY and SMILEY'S PEOPLE) have had intriguing
opening credits (A russian doll which, when opened, reveals another doll;
and a chalk mark moving along things in very dramatic camera angles).
Lord, I'm sure there's more, but I don't have the time....
"And that was the end of Grogan, the man who killed my father,
raped and murdered my sister, burned my ranch, shot my dog, and
stole my Bible!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAreiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/10/85)
The films themselves aren't much, but both the "Smokey and the Bandit"
series and "The Cannonball Run" films feature nice closing credits
showing all of the amusing flubs made during filming. They're often more
fun than the films.
Of course, the Pink Panther animated credits and the James Bond opening
credits are well known entertaining credits. In a similar vein, the
animated credits from "The Fourposter" are quite amusing.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reihermaverick@trwatf.UUCP (Mark D. Grover) (04/10/85)
> Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
The only film that I was (almost) literally rolling in the aisles during
the first three minutes.
--
MDG
ARPA: trwatf!maverick@SEISMO [TRW Advanced Technology Facility]
UUCP: ...!{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!maverick
...ucbvax!trwrb!trwatf!maverickjpg@sdchema.UUCP (Jerry Greenberg) (04/11/85)
The opening animated credits in "Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".
Since there has been some discussion about the longest movies, how
about the longest credit list? The trend in the last 10-15 years
seems to be to tack on most of the credits at the end of films and
just mention the principles at the beginning. My nomination
for the longest closing credits is "Superman I".(Traveling matte
technicians nose wiped by ----, Kryptonite furnished by Zales
of Beverly Hills, etc).
Jerry Greenberghaeckel@stolaf.UUCP (Paul C. Haeckel) (04/12/85)
> > Well, I'm probably gonna get flamed for this, but I loved the opening > credits to Monty Python's "Holy Grail"!!!The credits had me rolling on the > floor and the movie hadn't even started yet!!!! Oh yes, I love these credits too - or at least the ones I can read. You see, I've never seen "Holy Grail" in a theater, only on tv. (You can always judge the quality of a station on whether or not they cut the scene with the Black Knight - "I'll bite your kneecaps off!". CBS cut this scene a few years back when they showed it. Bloody gits... :-)) Towards the very end of the opening credits, they get very very small and impossible to read on a little 13" screen. Could some kind person post these or else mail them to me? Thank you. Paul Haeckel > "I am denied by this reality" < {decvax|ihnp4}!stolaf!haeckel -- Paul Haeckel > "I am denied by this reality" < {decvax|ihnp4}!stolaf!haeckel
thrush@spock.UUCP (Patricia White '88 cc) (04/12/85)
How about the opening and closing credits to _Max Dugan Returns_ ? The animation in the credits was terrific.
leeper@ahutb.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (04/13/85)
>[Watching] "Kentucky Fried Movie". As far as we were >concerned, the movie bombed. However, as the crowd left >during the closing credits, we sat there doubled over in >laughter at the performance of the closing music behind the >credits. If I remember correctly, a woman was performing >her version of "At the Copa Cabana". It was an exceptional >performance when you consider that she was purposely making >mistakes; dropping lines, forgetting words, singing out of >key, etc... To top it off, her pianist did a great job >staying with her while making mistakes of his own. The next >time you see the movie around go see it, if only for the >closing credits...... Does anyone know the original recording of this song? I really had the impression that this was it. The only mistake I noted was the restarting of a line, but that line was "It has a meter that is tricky." I thought it was a sort of self-illustration. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!ahutb!leeper
jims@hcrvax.UUCP (Jim Sullivan) (04/15/85)
What about Python (Monty) Pictures "Life of Brian ??" Great animation by Terry Gilliam, with the baby falling though all kinds of scenes. The one that sticks out is the laundry (strung between huge stone buildings) spelling out names (including George Harrison) Jim Sullivan Nothin' for a man to do but sit around and Think - Violent Femmes
barnett@ut-sally.UUCP (Lewis Barnett) (04/15/85)
> The recent film "Repo Man" also ran the credits downwards, by the way. > > --Lauren-- Yes, but as far as I could tell, the credits for _Repo Man_ were in the correct order to be read bottom to top, while (as I understood it) the credits in the other movie were in "normal" order, and were thus backwards when scrolled top to bottom. (Yes, a small point...) Did anyone else notice Angelique Pettyjohn (drill thrall Shana from the Startrek "Gamesters of Triskeleon" episode) as Repo wife #2? Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 -- barnett@ut-sally.ARPA, barnett@ut-sally.UUCP, {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!barnett
kmann@ihnet.UUCP (k. mann) (04/15/85)
Does anyone remember the credits for Body Double. This was quite unique, at the end of the movie they are shooting a scene to a prono flick, the credits started rolling for the movie being shot. This fooled alot of people since they started to leave, but they then had a couple of more scenes which eventually led to the real credits.
ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (04/16/85)
I haven't heard Ladyhawk mentioned yet. I found the opening credits
visually stunning. That it has a lot to do with the plot I didn't
discover until about halfway through the movie.
While I'm on the subject, I enjoyed Ladyhawk very much, but would have
enjoyed it more if they had turned the music down (off?) a little. I
found the main theme crass and annoying. One of the big problems with
using modern music in ancient settings is that it will all look quite
a bit silly in 5 or 10 years, when the definition of 'modern' changes.
Besides being terribly anacronistic to watch now. Too bad. A good
flick otherwise.
--
--
Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.)
{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,isi,idx}!wjvax!ron
"...but when I did 'rm *.o' it said '.o not found'..."
"...so I did a 'fmt trip.report > trip.report' and..."
"What do you mean you backed it up the wrong direction???"reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/18/85)
In article <662@ahutb.UUCP> leeper@ahutb.UUCP (m.r.leeper) writes: > > >If I remember correctly, a woman was performing > >her version of "At the Copa Cabana". >Does anyone know the original recording of this song? I really had the >impression that this was it. The only mistake I noted was the >restarting of a line, but that line was "It has a meter that is >tricky." I thought it was a sort of self-illustration. > The song was "The Carioca", not "At the Copa Cabana". I'm not sure who did the original recording, but it was the big dance number from one of the Astaire-Rogers films, and I'm pretty sure it didn't use the line restart in that rendition. Of course, in those days reusing already released music in a musical was fairly common, so I can't say that this rendition was original. -- Peter Reiher reiher@ucla-cs.arpa {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
robert@gitpyr.UUCP (Robert Viduya) (04/21/85)
Speaking of opening/closing credits, did anyone catch the subtle one in E.T.?
It was at the very beginning where movie companies put up their logos. Well,
E.T. was made by Universal (I believe). Universal's logo (normally) starts of
with a shot of the Earth rotating in space against a starry background and
some nebulous mists floating around. Then the nebulous mists move towards the
Earth and coalesce into some bands, while the word "Universal" zooms (apparently
from behind the camera) into the center of the screen.
Well, in E.T., it starts off with the word "Universal" already at the center
of the screen and the bands already in place and then the exact opposite of
what normally happens; everything moves _a_w_a_y from the Earth.
I guess they were trying to hint that the whole point of the story had something
to do with leaving Earth.
robert
--
Robert Viduya
Georgia Institute of Technology
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!robert
...!{rlgvax,sb1,uf-cgrl,unmvax,ut-sally}!gatech!gitpyr!robertjay@umd5.UUCP (04/22/85)
>tricky." I thought it was a sort of self-illustration. > > > The song was "The Carioca", not "At the Copa Cabana". I'm not sure who did > the original recording, but it was the big dance number from one of the > Astaire-Rogers films, and I'm pretty sure it didn't use the line restart in > that rendition. Of course, in those days reusing already released music in > -- > Peter Reiher The song "The Carioca" was the interminable closing dance number from the first Astaire-Rogers film "Flying Down to Rio", the only film in which their names did not appear above the credits. The ostensible stars of this 1933 films were Delores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. -- Jay Elvove ..!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umd5!jay
sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) (04/22/85)
I agree that the Ladyhawk soundtrack was somewhat out of sync
timewise. I love Alan Parsons' music, but it is really too modern for
Ladyhawk. A good Vangelis or some classical score would've been more
appropriate. I think that is one of the things that combined to make
Excalibur a great fantasy movie. With Ladyhawk, I had a really hard
time believing that the movie happened in the past.
--
--- Sean Casey
---
--- UUCP: {hasmed,cbosgd}!ukma!sean or ucbvax!anlams!ukma!sean
--- ARPA: ukma!sean<@ANL-MCS> or sean%ukma.uucp@anl-mcs.arpa
"We're all bozos on this bus."root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (04/22/85)
> I haven't heard Ladyhawk mentioned yet. I found the opening credits > visually stunning. That it has a lot to do with the plot I didn't > discover until about halfway through the movie. Yes, the visually impressive credits in LadyHawke actually have some kind of meaning! Too often the credits of a film are presented as a light-show with little attention to how they might integrate into the over-all film. Btw: One of my favorite WORST credits sequences were those for "Superman." Overdone light-show (swooosh, swisshhh!) In LadyHawke, the sun turns into the moon and back into the sun and the moon and the sun and over and over and over... > While I'm on the subject, I enjoyed Ladyhawk very much, but would have > enjoyed it more if they had turned the music down (off?) a little. I > found the main theme crass and annoying. Like you, I enjoyed LadyHawke very much. A visually stunning film, but with, I'm sorry to say, quite a weak storyline. The imagry does not carry the narrative... it simply provides the atmosphere and the background within which the story is told. The storyline is spoon fed by the banal dialogue. Mathew Broderick is good as Pierre "the mouse." Overall the acting was ok. The music is OVERDONE to the point of being annoying. The imagry is the film's strong point. In the Washington area the reviewers are hyping it to death. This isn't a GREAT film. But it IS a visually impressive film and well worth seeing, especially if you enjoy a good B grade movie. -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO Or as Jabba the Hut would say, "Brrrruuuuuurrrrrrrpppppp!"