Wayne Fitzgerald

Wayne Fitzgerald born in Los Angeles on 19 March 1930 is renown as a prolific main title designer for 451 motion picture and television sequences. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280408/ Wayne Fitzgerald ] ]

Film title work

Fitzgerald's first title design was the 1956 film "Glory". As an employee of Pacific Title and Art Studio since 1951, Fitzgerald did not receive a screen credit on his films.

In addition to providing an entertaining background to display the film credits, Fitzgerald often set the mood. For "The Music Man" he directed a group of 35 technicians who built sets and painted and animated the musical instruments and marching band, as well as shooting and editing the sequence. [http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/jsj/entertainment/18887169.html Title designer for ‘Music Man’ lives on San Juan - Journal of the San Juans ] ] When doing the titles for "Bonnie and Clyde" Fitzgerald used old photographs to establish a period flavour for the audience. Looking at his work, he thought something wasn't right and came back the next day placing in the sound of an old Brownie camera. [ [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+importance+of+a+singular,+guiding+vision:+an+interview+with...-a015143438 The importance of a singular, guiding vision: an interview with Arthur Penn. - Free Online Library ] ] Warren Beatty convinced Fitzgerald to go freelance where he established Wayne Fitzgerald Film Design.At the same time Fitzgerald retired as head of the art department of Pacific Title. [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20030504-9999_1a4glass.html SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features - GREAT PANES ] ]

Fitzgerald soon began receiving his own screen credits in 1968 with the films "Blue (1968 film)" and "The Green Berets".

With his expertise in design, Fitzgerald often advised on the type of music selected for a title sequence [ p.7 Huth, Joe F., Huth IV, Joe, Levine, Richard F. "Knight Rider Legacy: The Unofficial Guide to the Knight Rider Universe" 2004 iUniverse] Fitzgerald not only competed with his title designer contemporaries, such as Maurice Binder's James Bond by doing the Matt Helm films, but he also parodied Binder's 007 gunbarrel sequence opening the Maxwell Smart film "The Nude Bomb". Smart walks with his pistol in a circle, he becoms confused, the image repeats 3 times with 3 Maxwell Smarts that becomes part of the numeral "86".

In addition to opening titles, Fitzgerald also designed the high school yearbook type end titles of "Grease". In the film "Max Dugan Returns", the title character doesn't come in for half an hour. Fitzgerald's titles and Bob Kurtz's animation provided a background of the character. [ [http://mmbase.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences/video.jsp?video=30212 Forget the film, watch the titles ] ]

In 1993, Fitzgerald joined Billy Pittard and Ed Sullivan in their graphic design digital company to become Pittard-Sullivan-Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's last work for the company was "Four Rooms" in 1995. The company became a casualty of the dot com bust in 2001. [Whitney, Daisy "A Legacy of Innovation: Pittard Sullivan Was Once Synonymous With Broadcast Design" "Television Week" 20 June 2005]

His son Eric Fitzgerald followed in his father's footsteps as a title designer for television and motion pictures with "The Last Innocent Man" in 1987 with 37 credits up to "Drillbit Taylor" in 2008. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280229/ Eric Fitzgerald ] ]

Fitzgerald designed the logo of the Motion Pictures Editor Guild in 1995. [ [http://www.editorsguild.com/v2/magazine/Newsletter/NovDec97/unity.html What 60 Years Of Unity Can Accomplish ] ]

Awards

Fitzgerald won an Emmy awards in 1987 for "Outstanding Graphic and Title Design" for "The Bronx Zoo" and Daytime Emmy Awards for ""The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1987 and "The Guiding Light" in 1992. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280408/awards Wayne Fitzgerald - Awards ] ]

References

External links

* Wayne Fitzgerald at IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280408/
* Pittard Sullivan Fitzgerald at IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280408/awards
* "Great Panes" an article on Pacific Title http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20030504-9999_1a4glass.html