Task Two: Title Analysis

Hey there,

For my task two title sequence analysis, I will look at the title sequence of Catch Me If You Can:

The entire sequence uses hand-drawn figures to fit the 60's era, a time when designers had no computers, and the hand of the artist was delivering a strong message: - Which is what the artists who produced this title sequence try and replicate. In Catch Me If You Can, the action takes place between 1963 and 1969. The artists designed the characters with sixties haircuts, clothes, and postures, but the music by John Williams brings a lot more of that sixties feeling! Try another piece of music and you’ll see it does not fit.

In an interview with the title sequence's creators they said this; "In order to capture the spirit of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, we chose to employ a creative process that did not resort to the use of high technology. We used the same techniques as the film’s protagonist, by imagining the characters in stamp form, made from the same cutters as those used in the film by Frank Abagnale Jr. We wanted to preserve that crudeness."


The colours and action synchronises with the music; the entire title sequence itself is the actual story of the main character. The silhouette evokes a character we all ignore — the hero is a trickster. Those are in fact hand-carved stamps, animated in a traditional manner on paper by hand. That “handmade” aspect belongs to title sequences of that era. This is why in my opinion, this title sequence is so effective.



The lettering itself is the plain, typed sort of font that would have been used with the type-writers in that era to help emphasise the sixties atmosphere the creators are trying to create within the sequence. In essence, the sequence is brilliantly put together with the music showing the flow of time and heightened situations during the main character's story.