Title Sequence: Raging Bull
Year: 1980
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman

This is an incredible title sequence. The whole thing is just one shot, and there isn’t much going on, just a slow motion shot of the ring, but it’s elegant and simple, two things that are hard to pull off.

The music is from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni. It has an indescribably somber Italian feel to it, and if it sounds familiar, it might be, it has been used on The Sopranos, as well as Godfather III .

Add to the great theme music some perfect composition and you’ve got opening credits. I’m willing to bet that Chapman has some background in graphic design, because the whole sequence has a rule of thirds feel to it, with DeNiro right at that first intersection. It’s great how the ropes split up the frame horizontally and how the credit information comes in between them.

I would love to have a huge poster of the frame with the movie title in it, about :28 into the clip, going to start searching for that.

If you want to read a little more about the sequence, see it in higher quality, or hear a short commentary by the cinematographer check out the entry for this movie at Art of the Title. An incredible site I just discovered with a lots of fantastic opening titles.

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