It is pretty quick cut, only giving the viewer enough time to read the name of the actor before jumping to the next, but the transitions are smooth enough to avoid the watcher feeling unsettled or jerked around. Through the sequence, body parts slide on and off the screen, popping in cropped upside down or reversed and juxtaposed against one another. With the basics of the imagery laid out, the movement of those pieces is really what makes the title sequence the way that it is. Attitude meaning the mood of the characters inside and outside the courtroom, as it is clear that not one person is the spitting image of perfection. I like the leading font of the film though it is not pristine, I believe it fits the overall attitude of the film. The undecorated sans serif font to highlight the actors, producers, and crew compliments the more stylized “Anatomy of a Murder” font, even though it is only used when over the body. The typographic choices made in the title sequence I don’t believe are as representative of the themes of the film, but they are essential to the design of the opening sequence. Similarly, when all the details of the story are lined up in proper order, fuller understanding and insight into motivation becomes clearer. When pieced together and properly oriented, a somewhat crude image of the human body can be identified. This complexity is represented through the separation of the body parts alone they look like nothing because the head, seen by itself, could be a keyhole or a punching bag, or the right leg could be a handle. There are many complex components in the events that had occurred with the lieutenant being sentenced and his wife that the lawyer, Paul Biegler, soon comes to realize. Though the pieces of the body are flat, simple, and lack any sort of detail, the story of the trial is not the same. The pieces of the body remain the same, the text is cohesive, and there are no other sorts of images added in. I chose a still out of the opening title sequence to discuss the imagery and typography that is used through the whole opener. Paul Biegler, a small-town lawyer, takes up the case to defend Manion in court. Lieutenant Manion has been arrested for the first-degree murder of Barney Quill all this, under the assumption that Quill had raped Mrs. I want to explain the plot briefly to assist in my explanation and analysis of the title sequence for those who have not seen the film. The movies were released only two years apart, and there had been an overarching style in the film industry much like we see today within genre classifications. Earlier in the semester, I had watched 12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet, and Anatomy of a Murder was directed in a very similar way. Rather than discussing the plot line of the film, I want to focus on the opening title sequence, designed by Saul Bass, and how design elements, specifically imagery (with the inclusion of typographic choices), movement, and sound, emphasize themes in the film.īefore completing this assignment, I had never watched or heard of this film, but I felt it unfit to analyze the opening sequence without understanding the full movie, so I rented it on Amazon. Due to its age, the film is entirely in black and white, and camera cuts are noticeably different from newer films. Universal reps would not say whether it plans to comply.īass said although an apology was not issued, he believes that changing the campaign is proof “they know they’ve done something wrong.Director and producer, Otto Preminger’s, Anatomy of a Murder, is an American courtroom drama film from 1959. Robins said Preminger Films made several other requests and asked that an apology be made to Bass – none of which has yet occurred. We made the changes out of respect for Saul Bass and the Preminger estate.” “We don’t feel as if we ever did anything wrong. “They asked for some changes and we complied,” the spokesman said. The new onesheet features the silhouette in one piece rather than fragmented like Bass’ original “Anatomy” art and the initial “Clockers” poster. Sources said the “Clockers” poster was designed by Art Simms, who works with Lee regularly.Ī Universal spokesman said the modifications were made at the request of the Preminger film company. “To see him engage in this sort of downright plagiarism was disappointing.” He strives for originality and has a creative and moral point of view in all of his films,” Bass said Sept. “I’ve watched Spike Lee’s career with interest. “We felt that it was a violation of our copyright and a blatant ripoff of Saul’s work,” she said. Val Robins, VP of Preminger Films, said lawyers for her company contacted Universal after seeing the advertisement.
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