Richard Morrison (born September 1953) is an English designer of film
title sequence
A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with visu ...
s. He has created over 150 feature film title sequences in a career of more than thirty years.
Having studied graphics, photography and film, Morrison's initial career began on the
James Bond film series
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...
collaborating with an American graphic designer
Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder (December 4, 1918 – April 9, 1991) was an American film title designer best known for his work on 16 James Bond films including the first, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958.
Early work
He was born in Ne ...
. He has worked on film openers ever since for film directors including
Franc Roddam
Francis George "Franc" Roddam (born 29 April 1946) is an English film director, businessman, screenwriter, television producer and publisher, best known as the creator of ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' and the director of ''Quadrophenia'' (1979). He is ...
,
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
and
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud (; born 1 October 1943) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for directing ''Quest for Fire'' (1981), ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), '' The Bear'' (1988), '' The Lover'' (1992), '' Seven Years in ...
. His title sequences include films such as
''Batman'', ''
Enemy at the Gates
''Enemy at the Gates'' (''Stalingrad'' in France and ''L'Ennemi aux portes'' in Canada) is a 2001 war film directed, co-written, and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book '' Enemy at the Gates: The Batt ...
'',
''Gandhi'',
''Brazil'' and
''The Killing Fields''.
Describing his work in an interview with ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' (August 2008) Morrison explained: "I look for a nuance, a subliminal energy in a film that I can then work into an idea. A lot of my title sequences don’t give much away, but they give you a flavour. So the viewer thinks - Oh, this is intriguing, show me more…"
[Osmond, A., 2008. ''Title Recall'', p.84-88. Empire magazine, August 2008]
Morrison has been chairman of Europe's film and animation conference “Pencil to Pixel” since 2002, and in 2009 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Digital Film School of Media Arts and Imaging at the
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
Morrison is currently developing a few film title sequences including
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
's
''Frankenweenie'' and
''Dark Shadows as well as
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
's currently untitled biopic on
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
.
Selected film title sequences
*
''Quadrophenia'' (1979)
* ''
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
'' (1982)
* ''
The Killing Fields
A killing field is a concept in military science.
Killing field may also refer to:
* Killing Fields, a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of ...
'' (1984)
* ''
A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...
'' (1984)
* ''
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
'' (1985)
* ''
Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987)
* ''
A Fish Called Wanda
''A Fish Called Wanda'' is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double- ...
'' (1988)
* ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' (1989)
* ''
''K2'''' (1991)
* ''
Event Horizon
In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s.
In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive compact obj ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Seven Years in Tibet
''Seven Years in Tibet: My Life Before, During and After'' (1952; german: Sieben Jahre in Tibet. Mein Leben am Hofe des Dalai Lama; 1954 in English) is an autobiographical travel book written by Austrian mountaineer and Nazi SS sergeant Heinrich ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Spice World'' (1997)
* ''
High Fidelity'' (2000)
* ''
Enemy at the Gates
''Enemy at the Gates'' (''Stalingrad'' in France and ''L'Ennemi aux portes'' in Canada) is a 2001 war film directed, co-written, and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book '' Enemy at the Gates: The Batt ...
'' (2001)
* ''
9 Dead Gay Guys
''9 Dead Gay Guys'' is a 2002 British comedy film directed by Lab Ky Mo and starring Brendan Mackey and Glen Mulhern and released by TLA Releasing.
Plot
"Have you heard? The Queen's dead!" an older man in the pub tells Byron (Mackey). And the ...
'' (2002)
* ''
Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003)
* ''
The Dreamers'' (2003)
* ''
Creep'' (2004)
* ''
Seed of Chucky
''Seed of Chucky'' is a 2004 black comedy slasher film, the fifth installment of the ''Child's Play'' series, and sequel to 1998's ''Bride of Chucky'' as well as the first film to be distributed by another company since the original '' Child's ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Valiant'' (2005)
* ''
The Constant Gardener
''The Constant Gardener'' is a 2001 novel by British author John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the t ...
'' (2005)
* ''
Tideland'' (2005)
* ''
As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' (2006)
* ''
The Golden Compass
''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2007)
* ''
Vantage Point'' (2008)
* ''
Tamara Drewe
''Tamara Drewe'' is a weekly comic strip serial by Posy Simmonds, which had a 13 month run in ''The Guardian''s Review section. The strip is based upon a modern reworking of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel '' Far from the Madding Crowd''.
The stor ...
'' (2010)
* ''
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' (2010)
* ''
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
'' (directed by
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
; 2012)
* ''
Lay the Favourite'' (directed by
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...
; 2012)
* ''
Welcome to the Punch
''Welcome to the Punch'' is a 2013 British action thriller film written and directed by Eran Creevy and starring James McAvoy, Mark Strong, and Andrea Riseborough. The script had been placed on the 2010 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled lis ...
'' (executive produced by
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
; 2012)
* ''
The Cold Light of Day'' (directed by
Mabrouk El Mechri
Mabrouk el Mechri (born 18 September 1976) is a French director, screenwriter, and actor.
Biography
El Mechri was born in Versailles near Paris, France. He has directed a number of films. After his three shorts ''Mounir et Anita'', ''Generation C ...
; 2012)
* ''
Frankenweenie'' (directed by
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
; 2012)
* ''
Dark Shadows
''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport ...
'' (directed by
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
; 2012)
* ''
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
''Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'' is a 2013 American television drama film about boxer Muhammad Ali's refusal to report for induction into the United States military during the Vietnam War, focusing on how the United States Supreme Court decided t ...
'' (directed by
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...
; 2013)
* ''
Half of a Yellow Sun
''Half of a Yellow Sun'' is a novel by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Published in 2006 by 4th Estate in London, the novel tells the story of the Biafran War through the perspective of the characters Olanna, Ugwu, and Richard.
It rec ...
'' (directed by
Biyi Bandele
Biyi Bandele (born Biyi Bandele-Thomas; 13 October 1967 – 7 August 2022Micah L. Issitt Contemporary Black Biography, 2009. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.) was a Nigerian novelist, playwright and filmmaker. He was the author of s ...
; 2013)
* ''
One Direction: This Is Us'' (directed by
Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright.
Spurlock's films include ''Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' (20 ...
; 2013)
* ''
Believe'' (directed by
David Scheinmann; 2013)
* ''
Day of the Flowers'' (directed by John Roberts; 2013)
* ''
Dementamania
''Dementamania'', also stylized as ''DementaMania'', is a 2013 British horror film that was directed by Kit Ryan. The film had its world premiere on 23 August 2013 at the London FrightFest Film Festival and stars Sam Robertson as a software ana ...
'' (directed by
Kit Ryan
Kit Ryan is a film director and screenwriter.
Filmography
*'' Botched'' (2007)
*''Dementamania
''Dementamania'', also stylized as ''DementaMania'', is a 2013 British horror film that was directed by Kit Ryan. The film had its world premiere on ...
; 2013)
* ''
The Numbers Station
''The Numbers Station'' is a 2013 American action thriller film, starring John Cusack and Malin Åkerman, about a burned-out CIA black ops agent assigned to protect the code operator at a secret American numbers station somewhere in the British ...
'' (directed by
Kasper Barfoed
Kasper Barfoed (born 1972) is a Danish film director.
Barfoed was born in 1972, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from the University of Copenhagen.
Selected filmography (as director)
*'' The Lost Treas ...
; 2013)
* ''
Elsa & Fred'' (directed by
Michael Radford
Michael James Radford (born 24 February 1946) is an English film director and screenwriter. He began his career as a documentary director and television comedy writer before transitioning into features in the early 1980s. His best-known credits ...
; 2014)
* ''
The Two Faces of January
''The Two Faces of January'' (1964) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. Its title alludes to the two faces of the Roman god Janus, after whom the month of January was named. Biographer Andrew Wilson, in his 2003 publication ' ...
'' (directed by
Hossein Amini
Hossein Amini ( fa, حسین امینی; born 18 January 1966) is an Iranian-born British screenwriter and film director. Amini has worked as a screenwriter since the early 1990s. He was nominated for numerous awards for the 1997 film '' The Win ...
; 2014)
* ''
Calvary
Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...
'' (directed by
John Michael McDonagh
John Michael McDonagh (born 7 November 1967) is a screenwriter and film director with Irish and British nationality. He wrote and directed ''The Guard'' (2011) and '' Calvary'' (2014), both films starring Brendan Gleeson, receiving a BAFTA Awar ...
; 2014)
* ''
A Long Way Down
''A Long Way Down'' is a 2005 novel written by British author Nick Hornby. It is a dark comedy, playing off the themes of suicide, angst, depression and promiscuity.
The story is written in the first-person narrative from the points of view ...
'' (directed by
Pascal Chaumeil
Pascal Chaumeil (9 February 1961 – 27 August 2015) was a French director and screenwriter. He started out as an assistant director in the 1980s, working with directors such as Pierre Tchernia and Luc Besson. He was nominated for two César ...
; 2014)
References
External links
*
*
Richard Morrison interviewon Forget the Film, Watch the Titles
Richard Morrison interviewon Art of the Title
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Richard
British filmmakers
1953 births
Living people
Film and television title designers