Title Sequences: Marlene McCarty

I Shot Andy Warhol | Safe | American Psycho

How does Marlene McCarty work with type, image/graphics and music in these three title openings to set the tone for the coming film? 
          In I Shot Andy Warhol he uses dramatic music and scale of the red title combined with a typewriter effect for placing and removing the credits to set a dramatic tone. The music for this one stops as soon as the film starts (real life actions starts) and the credits flow around the people and motion of the film as it plays. The scenery would suggest that the movie takes place in a smaller town and centers around a somewhat crazy girl's actions and life. In Safe the credits align along the hood of a driving car and "flash" or glow on and off the screen. The dark street and limited perspective creates a mysterious feeling. Near the end the camera pans outside of the car and the credits move below the bumper as the people get out of the car and move inside. The neighborhood is made up of nicer, higher-class houses and the car they drive is revealed to be an expensive, black luxury car. In American Psycho, the music is dainty and mirrors the sound of drips (like rain). The type and images follow the beat of this tune. You are mislead by the image of red dripping liquid (to believe it is blood) and then the abstract red drips are put into the context of a gourmet kitchen at a fancy restaurant. The type used is clean and tracked out, maybe to symbolize the atmosphere of a pristine kitchen.

Are they reflecting the coming content of the film expressively and kinetically? How do they play off of one another?
          The first one, I Shot Andy Warhol, is expressive simply because of the speed and placement of the credits on and off the page. The placement of the offset type along the forms of people and objects in the film (when the live-action movie begins) creates kinetic motion. In Safe the type is not as expressive (apart from its glowing light effect as it exits the screen) and it is rather stagnant as it sits in the same spot on the screen while the car is driving. This could be reflective of the idea of a safe house, where one would have to stay in one place consistently. The typography in American Psycho follows the music and motion of the dripping red substance (at first, you are given the impression that it is blood and then it is revealed to be sauce for a fancy restaurant dish). In this way it is kinetic because it flows with the abstract red sauce, though it becomes much less dynamic when the movie actually begins (and the substance is put into context). The type is plain, and therefore not as expressive on its own, but I think the designer did that as not to compete with the film.

What is the mood you feel watching them? 
          I Shot Andy Warhol: a sense of intensity (caused by dramatic music and type motion), suspenseful
          Safe: sad, uneasy, scared, mysterious
          American Psycho: startled (at first), then somewhat relaxed (though still suspicious of something bad that is going to happen)

How are they similar and different?
          The credits move along with the motion of the film as it plays. The typography is simple in its animation and blinks on and off the screen in a predictable manner. Some of them spend more time in the abstract section of the credits while others take place entirely during the beginning of the actual movie.