Sally Cruikshank’s animated title sequence for Gregg Araki’s stoner comedy Smiley Face is an opening like no other.
The sequence is a no-holds-barred trip, a cannonball leap into psychedelia, vibrant and pulsing and a foreshadowing of the film’s plot. The animated forms have a child-like energy, loose and endearing, and the backgrounds vibrate with colour, beaming the most saturated hues directly into your retinas. The Chemical Brothers’ “Star Guitar” is the perfect accompaniment, steady and driving, a force of liberating rhythm. And in a stroke of genius, the film’s title doesn’t appear at all. Who needs words when a smiley will do?
Main Title Design/Animator: Sally Cruikshank
Music: “Star Guitar” by The Chemical Brothers