Credit to the Credits: 20 Feet From Stardom

I was completely expecting to love “20 Feet From Stardom,” the Oscar-nominated documentary about backup singers. What I was not prepared for, however, was to be bowled over in the first 3 minutes of the film. They had me with the opening credits.

The title sequence takes vintage album covers, publicity shots, and concert stills, and obscures, Baldessari-style, the faces of the “stars,” with a large colored circles. This simple graphic device forces you to see only the backup singers, telegraphing visually, what the film delivers on in depth. And it’s all set to Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side (“and the colored girls sing …”). Very satisfying, indeed.
 
You can view the actual title footage on graphic designer Scott Grossman’s site. You can read more about director Morgan Neville’s homage to Baldessari in this New York Times piece.

The solid silhouetting used here, is another Baldessari device.

Oscar Keeper

I had no idea in 2001 that I would have a blog now, but for some reason, I knew to save Nigel Holmes's In Style Oscar infographic for the last 12 years.

Click image to view larger.

Audio Cousins: 'The Social Network' & 'In Treatment'

The last Netflix disc I returned was the Gabriel Byrne-as-therapist HBO series, "In Treatment." So the theme was fresh in my ears last night when I heard the Oscar-wining theme for "The Social Network." I know this sounds ridiculously paradoxical, but except for the notes, the two are exactly the same.

Based on superficial Googling, I have not found any over lap for "In Treatment’s" composer, Israeli musician, Avi Belleli, and "The Social Network’s" composers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Belleli’s music for In Treatment was actually written for Hagai Levi's Israeli series, Bitipul, on which "In Treatment" is based.

Listen to the first 40 seconds of each …



I know, I need to get a life.