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The 1960s Graphic Designer Who Inspired Your Favorite Anime OPs




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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1346
PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 1:05 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for this article. I recognized the style, but didn’t have a name to associate it with (I probably would have guessed Milton Glaser).
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LightningComet



Joined: 10 Jan 2021
Posts: 48
PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 4:50 pm Reply with quote
Some of Saul and Elaine Bass' greatest sequences I think came out of their collaborations with Martin Scorsese late in their careers. I was suprised to not see them mentioned in this article, but that's fine; it just means I can gush here Very Happy .

The Age of Innocence is already one of the most visually stunning period films (up there with Barry Lyndon) and its opening perfectly encapsulates its story: beautiful, meticulously crafted embroidered flowers painstakingly trying to bloom and flourish amidst the darkness.

Casino is also remarkable in its opening, basically a descent into a neon-lit hellscape while The Passion of St. Matthew blares away in the background. It's all at once beauiful to look at, sexy in its enticing glamour, and existentially horrifying. If that doesn't perfectly encapsulate the mafia's exploits in Las Vegas during the 70s and 80s, I don't know what does.

The Bass' also worked on GoodFellas (pretty minimalistic opening, if memory serves) and Cape Fear (which while visually engaging, doesn't really do much to comment further on the film's themes of human vs animal nature). It's The Age of Innocence and Casino that really stick in my mind as some of their best work, though.


Last edited by LightningComet on Wed Nov 29, 2023 9:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 477
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 7:01 pm Reply with quote
I had no idea about Saul or Elaine Bass, and about his title sequences, though I did watch "Catch me if you can" and rewatching it gives me new appreciation for its OP, so I'm really glad I saw and decided to read this article.

I found a link to Nozaki-kun's opening, Italian (I think) subtitles though.
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rizuchan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:23 pm Reply with quote
The more jazzy, bright color on black style like Cowboy Bebop ones are a little more obvious, but (assuming I understand the assignment) looking at the examples from Nozaki and Eizokuken, the first thing that came to mind for me was Kimi ni Todoke, which puts simplified versions of the main character Sawako on stationary-esque backgrounds, and then Youtube's recommendations reminded me of Wotakoi as well.

Actually I bet this is a really common design trend in shoujo romance anime openings, just with pastels instead of the more vivid primary colors.

Edit: Would be remiss to not mention Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. (Both openings and endings, actually. Or just Shaft in general from that era)
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njprogfan
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Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 1147
Location: A River Named Toms
PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:36 am Reply with quote
The Bass's were geniuses. My fav is this from Hitchcock's North by Northwest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ON67uYwGaw

The fade to live action is brilliant, and the movie isn't half bad Smile
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 715
PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 6:57 pm Reply with quote
Hmm... The Big O, Kemonozume, and Kokkoku openings come to mind for me.

Edit: Links for those curious.

Big O

Kokkoku

Kemonozume
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poltroon



Joined: 26 Sep 2018
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 10:59 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for this, I enjoyed the article and the chance to tie together all these traditions.
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