I recently stumbled across this incredibly cool video that takes you through the ages of title design, starting with D.W. Griffith’s 1916 film, "Intolerance" and ending with the Gaspar Noe’s 2009 film, "Enter The Void" (trust me – this film is as crazy as the title sequence that it has).  Throughout the progression of the piece you see how far along title design has come in terms of complexity – but you also see the creativity that has always been there, despite the limits of technology.  On its own it is an incredibly interesting piece that really puts some perspective and importance on this often overlooked art form.

But there’s more.  The video is really just an introduction piece to an incredible resource called "Art of the Title," which is a website that does periodic features on various title designs, giving you a behind the scenes look at who made them, and how they were envisioned and executed.  It’s incredibly fascinating.  You HAVE to watch the making of the title for Boardwalk Empire (and just about every single one of them…) 

Additionally, there is also a library of other masterpiece title sequences (that don’t have accompanying articles) and a directory of many of the different title designers out there.  I personally love the work by Kyle Cooper – who uses real elements photographed on glass and table tops to create some very memorable title sequences such as Se7en (great article on this one) and Dawn of the Dead (2004).

And I also have to give a shout out to M. Keegan Uhl (Winner of Chapter 3 Beyond The Still) as he is given a special thanks in the credits of the above video.

The Making of the Leica M9-P »Edition Hermès« – Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

A few months ago, Leica announced their Monochrom camera, which many photography enthusiasts were drooling over, but many were also questioning the nearly $8000.00 price tag for a camera that shoots only in B&W.  I totally get it (and wish I could get one 😉 and must admit to have a total soft spot for tradition, and most things made my artisans and/or by hand in these mass-production modern times.

But Leica cameras have always been on the pricier side given that they are made one at a time – by very skilled people.  Check out the above video to see the process that goes into making the Leica M9-P Hermes. The price tag for this little gem? $25,000.00 – but of course that camera is a bit on the extreme side…   The non-special edition will still cost you close to $8,000.00.  I own an M9 and M6 and absolutely love the cameras and the Leica M lenses and have gravitated towards these rangefinder cameras since I started photography 20+ years ago.

For those of you who have been reading the blog for awhile – you have probably seen many of my posts on Kirby Ferguson’s excellent series – "Everything is a Remix".  I think the series is incredibly well done and raises a lot of interesting points and questions concerning the nature of originality in art.  Its main thesis (if I try my best to sum it up in one phrase) is that filmmaking (and all art for that matter) is constantly building on itself, recycling old tropes, characters, plot lines, etc… to create new pieces of work.

If you find all of that interesting, then you might also find it interesting that Cracked.com recently released a list of "6 Iconic Movie Scenes Ripped Off From Lesser Known Movies."  Now some of these "rip-offs" may only be incredible coincidences, but others are definitely lifted straight from other films.  Now if everything truly is a remix, then this wouldn’t be considered plagiarism, but simple recycling – or in some cases, an homage to a previous work which the filmmaker admires.  What may make this hard to swallow for some though is that these scenes are among some of the most famous in all of movies – and to think that they are merely imitations of something else, and not wholly original, may take away from their magic.

Would love to hear what you all think in the comments below!