Goodfellas title sequence book

This later work with martin scorsese saw the basses move away from the optical techniques that saul had pioneered and move into the use of computerized effects. Nora ephron researched for the comedy and spoke by phone with hill at the same time martin scorsese was chatting with the former gangster for his crime drama. The goodfellas diner is a film and photography location which is available for film and photography use. If not for the fact that pileggi and martin scorsese have pulled off the mammoth task of interpreting the detailedpacked, widescoped vision of the. The most iconic movie title sequences of all time and why. Goodfellas based on the book wiseguy by nicholas pileggi. The book explains exactly what was involved in the lufthansa heist, a sequence goodfellas avoids depicting, probably because hill didnt witness it directly. Kenney has written a book about the movie, the book, and the lives both real and fictional behind the story.

How goodfellas and the gangster class of 1990 changed. Saul bass was the master of the title sequence, working on such films as anatomy of a murder, north by northwest and goodfellas. Good fellas diner home maspeth menu, prices, restaurant. Dec 11, 2020 fans of mob movies watch goodfellas 1990 to enjoy the acts of mob guys who behave as if gangster life has zero consequences. The official goodfellas soundtrack includes 12 songs, all of which are mainstream recordings. Goodfellas font here refers to the font used in the poster title of goodfellas, which is a 1990 american crime film based on the book wiseguy by the new york crime. For scorsese, elaine and saul bass created title sequences for goodfellas, his remake of cape fear, the age of innocence, and casino, their last title sequence. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book wiseguy by pileggi.

Author pat kirkham discusses the opening titles for goodfellas, designed by saul and elaine bass, from her authoritative book saul bass. Title sequence title designers saul bass elaine bass. Scorsese recalls, i had a placement for the credit but didnt have the right lettering. I had the right music cue but something wasnt right. Bass chose the spiraling forms in the lissajous book as his main motifs. Goodfellas study guide contains a biography of martin scorsese, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The film win on to nab a best supporting actor oscar for joe pesci at the 63rd academy awards. Binder turned to a variation on saul bass graphic line style as established in 1955s the man with the golden arm, but used dots for the barrel of the gun and bullet holes. Saul bass, master of the movie title sequence creativepro. Saul bass made the title sequence into a film star the. The film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate henry hill the firstperson narrator in the film and his friends over a period from 1955. While it contains a threeact structure of rise to power, complications and eventual downfall, it goes beyond the oftprescribed three plot points or four, if you count the midpoint as a plot point.

Styles 1990s, graphic, live action, main title, mixedmedia, montage. Jun 19, 2015 richard brody on martin scorseses goodfellas, settling in today for a weeklong revival at film forum. Thirty years later, is goodfellas the greatest mob movie. Jun 04, 2018 designing the title sequence of the first james bond movie from the highly popular series of spy books by ian fleming was a tall order for maurice binder. Goodfellas stylized goodfellas is a 1990 american biographical crime film directed by martin scorsese, written by nicholas pileggi and scorsese, and produced by irwin winkler. May 8, 1920 april 25, 1996 was an american graphic designer and oscarwinning filmmaker, best known for his design of motionpicture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos during his 40year career, bass worked for some of hollywoods most prominent filmmakers, including alfred hitchcock, otto preminger, billy wilder, stanley kubrick and martin scorsese.

The bulk of the book is a scene by scene walkthrough of goodfellas annotated. Though nicholas pileggis source book, wise guy, gave this screenplay both its voiceover and its final conclusion, the screenplay to goodfellas is an essential addition to any screenplay library. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 nonfiction book wiseguy by nicholas pileggi, who cowrote the screenplay with scorsese. The opening sequence sees a gang brutally kill a man and introduces the central character through a voiceover and camera framing. For scorsese, saul and elaine bass created title sequences for goodfellas 1990, cape fear 1991, the age of innocence 1993, and casino 1995, their last title sequence. Anatomy of a murder 1959, goodfellas 1990 kirkham, 2011. Goodfellas is arguably director martin scorseses most popular film, and while many books have capitalized on its fameincluding a volume on leadership and even a cookbookthis is the first title in almost 20 years to take such a thorough and highly entertaining look at the creation and legacy of what many consider one of the best mob.

Goodfellas is based on the truelife story of henry hill played by ray liotta, a lowlevel gangster from boyhood to manhood stretching through the 1960s and 1970s, turned fbi informer, as related by him to crime reporter nicholas pileggi in his book, wise guy. The movie, goodfellas, directed by famed director martin scorsese, was taken from the book, wiseguys. But the films credits sequence list the entire group of tracks that scorsese uses from beginning to end, with many stylizing key sequences that involve stylish characters. Dec 04, 2020 goodfellas came out in 1990, with scorsese cowriting the film with nicholas pileggi, based on pileggis book. Later on in the film the evidence that colin is a rat is placed in a rolling stone album cd case exile on main street this use of popular music as a tangible part of the mise en scene furthers the innovative use of music by scorsese in his film. Rather than using the redundant identification tagstyle that was commonly used for movie opening credits during the early 50s, bass was a pioneer in modernizing opening title sequences. Sep 17, 2020 goodfellas, the 1990 gangster epic which.

For my scene analysis, i will be talking about the scenes in martin scorseses film, goodfellas that take place inside the nightclub. Goodfellas was the fourth of ten titles saul bass designed with his wife elaine and the first of five designed for martin scorsese. Sep 18, 2015 you see, the centerpiece sequence of goodfellas third act an extended deep dive into platespinning, cokesnorting, saucemaking, and druginduced paranoia, culminating in our protagonist. While goodfellas 1990 was based off nicholas pileggis book wiseguy, the screenwriter for my blue heaven 1990 had special access to pileggi. It also offers up such tidbits as the hijackers who were on salary, making a couple of grand just for sticking a gun in the drivers face, whether it was a good score or lousy. Scorsese intended to make a gangster picture that was, in.

Saul bass made the title sequence into a film star the new york. Nov 07, 2011 alfred hitchcock had commissioned him to design the title sequences for his 1958 psychological thriller vertigo. Sep 16, 2020 none made their mark more than goodfellas, drawn from nicholas pileggis book wiseguy and based on the reallife exploits of the new york mob underlingturnedinformant henry hill. We tour his amazing work in logo, film poster and title design. Bass chose the spiraling forms in the lissajous book as his main motifs, knowing. Goodfellas lasting legacy lies in its insider approach to portraying three decades in a mafia family. Saul bass made the title sequence into a film star the new. Scorseses achievement with goodfellas the new yorker. Goodfellas tells the reallife story of mobster henry hill, and it is largely true, although there are individual scenes that are out of sequence and others that were added for dramatic effect, such as karen hill flushing the cocaine down the toilet during the drug bust. The real henry hill was an associate of the lucchese crime family, who later went into the federal.

This weekend is all about movies with innovative opening credits, which. From tony bennetts rags to riches over the opening narration to the sex. Breaking down the layla montage in goodfellas the ringer. Sep 15, 2020 the bulk of the book is a scenebyscene walkthrough of goodfellas annotated by interviews with the principals, production anecdotes and kennys characteristically astute analysis. Film title sequence symbolize and summarize saul bass by. The opening sequence of goodfellas presents the audience with an impression of the plot, foreshadowing the nature of the events to come. This title sequence is in every graphic design textbook on the planet. The font used in the movie goodfellas during the credits. How the cast compares to the real gangsters the official goodfellas soundtrack includes 12 songs, all of which are mainstream recordings.

Arm and continuing with classics like vertigo, psycho, blowup, go. The bass titles for oceans eleven 1960 also featured las vegas, but as soon as they read this script they knew the sequence would have to be very different. As in goodfellas, the titles do not open the movie. The film portrays the true story of mobster henry hill played by ray liotta who grows up in the mob and works hard to advance himself through the ranks. The most iconic movie title sequences of all time and why they.

Goodfellas differs from formula in that, first of all, at 146 minutes it is almost an hour longer than the 90minute norm. Essay on music in scorsese films 2910 words 12 pages. The sequence details the aftermath of the reallife lufthansa heist, in which hills friend and fellow underworld operator jimmy conway oversaw a. Apr 24, 2015 i must have recut the opening title sequence 15 times as titles kept shifting and footage kept changing. So much of goodfellas has been absorbed into popular culture over. According to henry hill, whose life was the basis for the book and film, joe. The end title cards state that henry is still a protected witness as of 1990, but.

Goodfellas is based on wiseguy, a 1986 novel by nicholas pileggi. Sep 21, 2020 goodfellas features some of scorseses most seductive filmmaking by necessity. When goodfellas first hit the theatres in 1990, a classic was born. A library journal best book of the year a sight and sound best film book of 2020 for the thirtieth anniversary of its premiere comes the vivid and immersive history behind martin scorseses signature film goodfellas, hailed by critics as the greatest mob movie ever made. Goodfellas turned wiseguys simple prose into cinematic gold. While it contains a threeact structure of rise to power, complications and eventual downfall, it goes beyond the oftprescribed three plot points or four, if. Sep 24, 2020 while the book succeeds in situating goodfellas in scorseses oeuvre, it misses some of how and why the film is so influential. The author collaborated with scorsese on the screenplay. Goodfellas is based on the truelife story of henry hill played by ray liotta. The chances are that you remember a movie title sequence that was. A heroic life is the debut feature of comic book artist. Its very important where the freezeframes are in that o. The simple, speeding graphic of the goodfellas 1990 titles synced to the sound of speeding cars on an expressway the ominous, wavering reflections in water of phantom images that began cape fear 1991 the endlessly blooming flowers, like love renewing itself again and again, under layers of lace for the age of innocence 1993 the form of a man falling through a neon hell in casino 1995. Other uses goodfellas stylized as goodfellas is a 1990 american biographical crime film directed by martin scorsese.

Thirty years later, is goodfellas the greatest mob movie ever. The title sequence was resolved fairly quickly, partly because scorsese. The first scene shot for goodfellas wasnt directed by martin scorsese. Like casino after it, goodfellas opens with a reminder that the story about to be told is true, followed by a brief scene of uncontextualized violence, followed by a saul and elaine bass title sequence. Saul was well known for his title sequences in legendary hitchcock films north by northwest and psycho. Sep 24, 1990 the book is an account of the life of the actual henry hill, as he told it to pileggi after he entered the federal witness protection program, and the movie picks up his story in 1955, with the. Goodfellas opens with a sequence where billy batts is stabbed to death. Bass said, i want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. How goodfellas and the gangster class of 1990 changed hollywood. Few could anticipate the unparalleled influence it. The story of goodfellas, by glenn kenney, is exactly what the subtitle says it is. Unlike casino, with goodfellas the basses embrace the power of sparseness and horizontality in order to convey the docudrama tone of the.

Sep 08, 2020 the sequence, wherein the titles zoom into the middle of the screen, was completed by the legendary saul bass, and his wife elaine bass. Based on the true crime book wiseguys 1986 by new york city reporter nicholas pileggi, the movie is directed by martin scorsese to be watched like a true crime book revivified for. Reflecting on the legacy of goodfellas 30 years on the. Adapted from the book wiseguy by crime journalist nicholas pileggi, who also. Goodfellas soundtrack music editor chris brooks remembers. Scorsese, like any good cinephile, knows his hitchcock. Saul bass goodfellas 1990 title sequence martin scorsese. This was the first martin scorsese film for which saul bass designed the titl. As far back as i can remember, i always wanted to be a gangster, henry hill ray liotta muses near the start of goodfellas, and in the fall of 1990, when that film was released, it seemed. Reflecting on the legacy of goodfellas 30 years on the artery. His poster work and title design work can be seen in vertigo, psycho, good. The title credits saul bass, title sequence, movie titles, film.