THIS IS THE age of anticipation. The teaser, the preview, the trailer, the extendedtrailer. Which means it is, invariably, an age of disappointment, when the trailers make something look like a mix between Ulyssesand Terminator, only for the full version to turn out to be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoomeets Tintin.
Yet, it would be a step forward if the cinemas would have a special value rate for people who just want to settle into a seat, let the curtain open wide (or narrow, in the case of The Artist) and enjoy a particular anticipatory thrill: that of the title sequence. In these few minutes, everything that follows can be teed up as being noble, artistic, important. Too often, it's not. But the truly great sequences are part of the film, integrating with and signalling the mood of what's to follow.
Next month, Kyle Cooper comes to Dublin. His name is unknown to most, but his work is among the most seen in popular culture. He made his name with the title sequence for Se7en(I'll use the typographical affectation – it earned it), itself a short film, or a prologue, which is credited with reinvigorating the art of the title.
Those who are satisfied by such an amuse-bouche of typography, music, graphics and cinematography will find excellent sites on which to gorge. Art of the Title ( artofthetitle.com) and Forget the Film, Just Watch the Titles ( watchthetitles.com) offer the title sequences shorn of the rest of the films, often accompanied by excellent interviews with some of their creators.
The art's pioneer was Saul Bass ( iti.ms/xwMNZC), another whose name is largely unknown in the mainstream, but whose work – including The Man with the Golden Arm, Vertigoand Cape Fear– has been as influential as the directors he worked with. But when you go to Watch The Titles and are drawn towards your favourite sequences, you may be surprised at how many have Cooper's name attached to them.
Of his 150 title sequences, Watch the Titles reckons that his best sequence is for 2004's Wimbledon. It is a simple but effective sequence, in which the editing reacts to the thwack of a tennis ball overlaid on the soft beats of RJD2's Ghostwriter. It's a nice bit of work. The rest of the movie, not so much.
You think such a thing doesn't matter so much, but watch the opening titles for the TV series Homeland(black-and-white, maze, upside-down Obama, snatches of dialogue, jazz) and tell me you don't have a reaction to it. It has become the most talked-about title sequence of recent years, largely because even the many people who revere the drama at first hate the title sequence. Except that, as the series goes on, it matches increasingly the atmosphere and trajectory of the drama; an ingredient vile in isolation but key to the overall dish. Homelandis the fish sauce of title sequences.
It is also the anti-Lost, with its title slowly spinning to the camera, accompanied by minimal music. It lasts hardly a few seconds, and often arrived several minutes into an episode, but there have been few better in the past decade. It finds echoes in Cooper's work, in fact, notably his pithy title sequence for the 1996 movie Twister.
A variation: the simple animation which accompanies Peter Gabriel's song as the closing credits roll on Wall-Ewas not originally appended to the film. Instead, it was put there after screen tests found that the audience couldn't buy into the idea of the film's overweight, pampered humans being able to rebuild on a wasted planet. It became the film's final act.
But back to opening titles. I have a soft spot for the world-falling-apart slow-mo of Zombieland; the animation of Catch Me If You Can, accompanied by John Williams's jazzy score; the letters slowly forming in space to reveal the word Alien; the gorgeous animation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. . .
You will have your own favourites. Even if you haven't thought about it too much, you'll rummage in there and realise you have held on to many title sequences, ready to be replayed in the mind. Some will be Kyle Cooper's, who is at the Offset creative festival next month. In the meantime, you can see an interview with him on Forget the Film, Just Watch the Titles ( iti.ms/AzrG6C). It acts as a good teaser for his Dublin appearance.
Twitter: @shanehegarty
* Offset 2012 is at the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin from March 9th to 11th. See iloveoffset.com
