Motion Graphics Pioneer Iginio Lardani

Over at Art of the Title there is a tribute to Iginio Lardani, who with director Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Marricone defined what we now think of as the Spaghetti Western. Lardani's titles looked like no other titles for a western and have more in common with animated titles of Saul Bass and Maurice Binder. While the effects used are easily achieved via computer now, Lardani used a creative mix of in-camera optical effects, practical effects, and a repurposed multiplane Pace 1 camera.

His irreverence, low-budget ingenuity, and unvarnished design style split a new branch off the title design family tree, stemmed from the modernism of Bass and Binder via Andy Warhol to become a rallying cry for B-film productions everywhere. Quoted liberally in subgenre and exploitation films throughout the ’70s, his work has since become shorthand for indie credibility and gritty nihilism... 

One thing the article incorrectly calls out is his use of doutones. Lardani is using fake doutones in the titles, but that is a minor quibble with a great profile of one of the pioneers of motion graphics.

ht: NCAD Alumni Noah Read