Wednesday Website:Forget the Film, Watch the Titles!

Are you a person who bolts from the cinema at the close of the last scene, or one who watches a movie from first to last frame, including what I used to explain to my children was the "business," the opening and closing credits? I always stay in my seat until the very last credit rolls by, sometimes to see some small bit of information like music performers or location credits, and sometimes because those closing credits are great film in and of themselves.

From the fabulous Open Culture , I found this nifty film, art and design website called Forget the Film, Watch the Titles - "showcasing the very best in title design." As of this week, Watch the Titles has clips, background information and interviews with title designers for 155 different movies. I'll introduce you to the site with a couple of book-related titles. Watch the sequences embedded here, but be sure to go to the site to read more about the creation and design of each.

The pilot film for a 13-part series (shown in the US on HBO) is based on Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Set in Botswana, the book series features Mma Precious Ramotswe and a colorful cast of characters, thoughtfully and unhurriedly investigating the foibles of human nature in contemporary southern Africa.

No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency – titles from Airside on Vimeo.

Another book-related feature on Watch the Titles comes from the 2004 film of Lemony Snicket's dismal and darkly humorous A Series of Unfortunate Events, in which the 3 plucky Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their uncle, evil Count Olaf, who continuously plots to kill them to inherit the family fortune. Dear reader, if you sighed with relief at the children's near escape, you sighed too soon . . .

Read more at Forget the Film, Watch the Titles.

Do you stay to the very end to watch the closing titles?