Title sequence analysis: Naked Lunch

For my title sequence, I am going to look at Cronenberg's unfaithful adaptation of William Burrough's novel Naked Lunch. It is lauded by critics as a throw back to the font type and stylistic features of the early 1950's and shows a clear influence from the works of Saul Bass, acclaimed for his collaborations with Hitchcock on designing innovative titles for some of his best known films.

 

The free-form jazz solo which accompanies the titles immediately sets the sense of unease prevalent throughout the film and the soundtrack itself particularly unique in crafting a mood before we are even introduced to any of the characters.




The sequence is simple but effective; various shapes of different colour move towards the centre of the screen and illuminate the 'above-the-line' talent. There are easy comparisons to draw between this style and that of the Hitchcock classics 'Psycho' and 'Vertigo' and many others. The font used is bold but a tiny bit 'funky', possibly used to instill a sense of the Beatnik era in the viewer.

Having also spent some time researching the website 'Art of the Title', I also discovered some opening titlesequences I had forgotten about, including Twelve Monkeys, Moon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as well as TV shows such as Six Feet Under and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.