'A History Of The Title Sequence': Hollywood's Best Opening Credits (VIDEO)

For his Vimeo Award-winning "A History Of The Title Sequence," Dutch filmmaker Jurjen Versteeg imagined a documentary about the greatest title sequence designers of all times, and....well, made a title sequence for it. The 2 minute parade of names features Saul Bass and Danny Yount alongside quieter stars like Stephen Frankfurt (whose famous domino effect for "To Kill A Mockingbird" seems to have actually inspired a real live documentary). Their names are animated to represent whatever aesthetic the designer is famous for introducing.

Take a look at Versteeg's "History Of The Title Sequence" below, and our video slideshow of the sequences he's referring to below that. A few are copyright restricted -- to access full versions of those openings, head to the links in the captions.

WATCH:

A History Of The Title Sequence from jurjen versteeg on Vimeo.

For the openings referenced in "A History Of The Title Sequence," click through the slideshow below:

1902: Georges Méliès - "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" ("Trip To The Moon")

• • • • • • • • • Directed by Georges Méliès.

Comments

[Zebra Poundsworth]

10:57 PM on 07/02/2012

Caddyshack. The gopher.

[rfg nyc]

01:41 PM on 07/02/2012

CONTACT

[colonelsun68]

07:20 AM on 07/02/2012

There are so many that don't appear here. Nearly all of Maurice Binder's opening titles for the Bond films and the opening titles for the first Christopher Reeve "Superman" come to mind. In truth, an entire film could be made of great title sequences.

[Fudgefase]

04:19 AM on 07/02/2012

I got bored and switched it off.

[eric14]

05:46 AM on 07/02/2012

There was something incoherent about the whole article. I thought I was losing my mind.

Cape Fear remake title sequence:

http://youtu.be/xoO0ZsQ7tBg

[jayquintana]

01:08 AM on 07/02/2012

The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1fmfZGuWw

[Craig Koebelin]

10:06 PM on 07/02/2012

I was going to say that. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

[Frederick Flintstone]

07:51 PM on 07/01/2012

vainglorious.

[Saijanai]

03:44 PM on 07/01/2012

2001 didn't make it? Sheesh.

[BozDonovan]

03:22 PM on 07/01/2012

Remind me again, what year was Psycho?

[the invisable man]

03:06 PM on 07/01/2012

Closing credits to "A Series of Unfortunate Events"

[smacarol]

03:06 PM on 07/01/2012

"Body Heat"

[Hero of Time]

03:05 PM on 07/01/2012

Greatest Title Sequence of all time: The Thing. It's just awesome.

[Jesse P Hudson]

03:04 PM on 07/01/2012

"Enter the Void"
Gaspar Noe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL0lNGXoP8E

[Luke Mancuso]

02:48 PM on 07/01/2012

is it just me or did anyone else cringe at the sound of the charcoal writing on the paper...

[Fiona123]

02:41 PM on 07/01/2012

You need to add "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"truly mind blowing!

[tek1]

03:42 PM on 07/01/2012

Just looked that one up...Yep...sweeeeet.

[Fiona123]

04:54 PM on 07/01/2012

Cool!

[redcrayon]

03:10 AM on 07/02/2012

One of the best - if not THE best - opening title sequences ever! I could watch it again and again!

[StevenWells]

02:29 PM on 07/01/2012

Just last night, I watched - for the umpteenth time - a film I've always thought had one of the greatest, and edgiest, title sequences ever: "The Palm Beach Story" (1942).

It's not so much the graphic design, but the bold conceit of showing the cryptic and intriguing climactic scenes of an untold backstory, whose relationship to the film's plot doesn't become completely clear until its final moments.

For both graphic design and thematic significance, I'd place Pablo Ferro's work on "Bullitt" above that represented by "Dr. Strangelove;" its titles function in a way similar to those of "The Palm Beach Story," providing a purely visual depiction of the events which set the plot in motion, while the actual text - bold white lettering which then becomes transparent and reveals more action - draws the viewer in, layer by layer.

From the nitpick department: it should probably be noted that the "Psycho" title sequence included above, which duplicates Saul Bass' original, is from the 1998 remake rather than Hitchcock's 1960 version.