Title Sequences - Catch Me If You Can

As I mentioned in my previous blog, this title sequence has always stood out to me.

Catch Me if You Can sets the scene with an airport and the titles appear, emerging from the ground which in turn creates more of a background for the scene itself. Kuntzel and Deygas said "how many people talk about a possible Saul Bass influence in the title sequence..."When you look at their style you can see how people have got to this conclusion. The work is very graphical and instead of using digital technology they used the process of stamps which is something that occurs throughout the film. As the film is set during the 1960's the use of stamps fits the style and era more than a digital production would. The background itself is quite simple to coincide with the simplicity of the characters on screen. The composition for the shots have been well thought out and planned, for example in one part there is a lift and the camera moves up with it, each shot flows into one another seamlessly. 

The music helps the title sequence to move along, yet it also delivers the right emotion and sets you up for the style of film that it'll be and the era it is set in. It starts off quite mysterious and kicks in with more of a beat to show something is going on. The tempo changes 3/4 of the way through to give a sense of urgency, however it soon changes once again to a more calmer tone. When you think it will settle in one place, it changes instantly which suggests that the scene and atmosphere is fast paced and hardly calm at all.

The combination of the colours, the technique and music all work together in harmony. When you think of a film you should also think of the title sequence as this is more than likely the first thing you will see on screen. The title sequence also has to fit in with the general style and storyline of the film itself. There is no use putting something completely irrelevant. Once the title sequence ends and moves to the film, the two need to flow together and not disjoint the two sections.

It's interesting to see how digital media is not always used, there are still traditional techniques that are being used, maybe not as much but they are there and if done right, they can produce something like this.