Cinegraphic: Exceptionally Early (1906) Animated Title Sequence

from Cinegraphic.net:

Exceptionally Early (1906) Animated Title Sequence

URL: https://www.cinegraphic.net/article.php?story=2011041710044148

The 1906 Vitagraph Company film "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" produced and animated by J. Stuart Blackton also includes an exceptional animated title sequence, striking for both its complexity and early date. It is taken from a paper print preserved at the Library of Congress.

The entire animated film runs about 3 minutes, and the titles themselves run 20 seconds; they are a significant part of the animated piece since the complexity of the titles is greater than the complexity of the animated faces (which combine stop motion and live action). This is an unusual title sequence for a film from the beginning of cinema, and one of the earliest that engages in the production of a graphic, animated title sequence. There are aspects of the animation design that anticipate the work of later (but uncredited) designers of the sound era in the 1930s and '40s, as well as the spectacle-driven titles done in the 1950s and '60s under the guise of "star" designers such as Maurice Binder or Saul Bass.

[link to the film on the Library of Congress site: call number FEA 5523 (ref print)]

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