for openers:

the art of film titles

april 7--8, 2000

box office and ticket information | calendar

This program is made possible by a generous grant from the 2wice Arts Foundation and is dedicated to the memories of Tibor Kalman and Saul Bass.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is proud to present a two day survey of movie titles: their history, their roots and their future. There will be two panels with the designers who will show their work and two illustrated presentations by Ken Coupland and David Peters: Titles Then and Titles Now, in which they reveal the creative strategies behind some of the most dramatic experiments in graphic imagery for film.

We will also present two programs of short animated and experimental films which illustrate the roots and inspirations for many of the early title designers.

Our survey will begin with the first wave of creative energy in the 50's and the extraordinary work of Saul Bass, and will move on to explore the present generation of innovative designers.

These mini-masterpieces are an exhilarating fusion of sound, music, text and visuals and often shift the balance of the film, raise the themes and set the mood, thereby significantly enhancing the magical experience of moviegoing.

As titles invite the filmgoer into the pleasures of the film, we invite you to attend this two day tribute to these oft-neglected designers and their magnificent work.

Curated by Wendy Keys, Ken Coupland and David Peters.

dr. no

SHORTS I (90m)
A sampling of animated and experimental films which anticipate the work of today's title designers. Includes WHY MAN CREATES by Saul Bass, POWERS OF TEN by Charles and Ray Eames, A CHAIRY TALE by Norman McLaren, WINDY DAY by the John and Faith Hubley and an early Warner Bros. cartoon reel: A Slapstick Adagio
Friday, April 7: 2pm

the pink panther

SHORTS II (86m)
Another sampling which includes THE STREET by Caroline Leaf, TITLES FROM MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM to CASINO by Saul and Elaine Bass (23 minutes), NEIGHBORS by Norman McLaren, NOTHING BUT FLOWERS by Tibor Kalman, ARABESQUE by John Whitney , EMPEROR'S NEW ARMOR by R. O. Blechman and TOCATTA FOR TOY TRAINS by Charles and Ray Eames.
Friday, April 7: 4pm and Saturday, April 8: 4pm

barbarella

PANEL: The Moderns
Pre-digital designers will discuss their work and their influences and will show examples of their work. Will include Elinor Bunin (Munroe) (Bondarchuk's War and Peace, Angel Levine), Thelma Schoonmaker (re: Saul and Elaine Bass' Casino, Age of Innocence), Wayne Fitzgerald (Total Recall, Bonnie and Clyde), Pablo Ferro (Dr. Strangelove) and Stephen Frankfurt (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Robert Greenberg. Moderated by David Peters
Friday, April 7: 6pm

the world according to garp

TITLES THEN
Film title design from 1950-1980. Writer Ken Coupland and designer David Peters show and discuss some 20 classic and rarely-seen title sequences by Saul Bass, Maurice Binder, Pablo Ferro, Wayne Fitzgerald, Terry Gilliam, Richard and Robert Greenberg, Anthony Goldschmidt and others, for such directors as Stanley Donen, Blake Edwards, John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Sergio Leone, Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger.
Friday, April 7: 8:15pm

jungle fever

PANEL: The Contemporaries
The new generation of motion graphics designers will discuss their work and show examples. Will include Marlene McCarty (Ice Storm, Velvet Goldmine), Randy Balsmeyer (Magnolia, Jungle Fever), Deborah Ross (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Any Given Sunday) and Kyle Cooper (Seven, Donnie Brasco). Moderated by Ken Coupland
Saturday, April 8: 6pm

seven

TITLES NOW
Film title design from 1980 to the present. Ken Coupland and David Peters show and discuss an additional 20 titles by Bass, Fitzgerald and the Greenbergs along with work by newcomers Randy Balsmeyer and Mimi Everett, Kyle Cooper, Robert Dawson, Juan Gatti, Tibor Kalman and others for such directors as Pedro Almodovar, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, Jonathan Demme, Brian DePalma John Frankenheimer, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott.
Saturday, April 8: 8:15pm