There were so many titles to choose from, it was hard to decide what to watch. Out of the ones I watched, my favorite was the To Kill a Mocking Bird title sequence. It brought back all of my feelings of admiration for the book.
The clip starts with 2 little hands, presumably Scout’s, opening a cigar box. In the box are many of the treasures Boo Radley gives to Jem and Scout. Out from the box comes Gregory Peck’s name, who plays Atticus. Scout then picks up a crayon from the box and begins to do a crayon rubbing, revealing the name of the movie. The way the name is reveals is beautiful and nontraditional.
From there the sequence switches between shots of hands coloring and macro shots of toys in the box. I love the shots moving through the toy box, the marble rolling and the whistle coming into clear view. The sounds are intriguing to me as well. Scout is humming, the pocket watch ticks, the marble bounces. All of the sounds are subtle and work well to set the scene. The actor’s names are well done, not too intrusive. When I do notice them, they are well placed. I especially like the names that move over the pencil, they are perfectly positioned.
The title sequence to Almost Famous paid homage to the opening of To Kill a Mocking Bird. In the opening credits pan through William’s desk draw, in similar fashion to the cigar box. The desk draw is full of his memories from being on the road with the band, Stillwater. The names of the film, cast and crew are written in pencil on a legal pad mimicking Scout’s drawing . There are many parallel shots in the opening credits, such as the pan over the Continental pen, similar to the pan over the pencil in the To Kill a Mocking Bird sequence. To tie it all together, the first spoken words of Almost Famous are about Atticus Finch.
The title sequence of To Kill a Mocking Bird is timeless and the creators of Art of the Title seem to agree. This will continue to inspire future opening credits down the road.