The third season of The Twilight Zone premiered on September 15, 1961, and with it came a brand new opening title sequence. The theme music by Marius Constant remained the same (until late into the season, when a decidedly different rendition would appear... but we'll get there in time), and Rod Serling's opening narration was only minimally revised. Season three's opening sequence, designed by Pacific Title (thanks to fellow fan --- and fellow Portland native --- Joel Henderson for this tidbit of info), is the simplest of the entire series. It's literally one single object --- a spinning top of sorts ---spinning away from camera, off into space. And yet, in its simplicity, it manages to evoke a surreal, almost trancelike vibe.
The spinning spiral, by the way, was not new to The Twilight Zone. We saw it way back in season one's "Perchance to Dream," framed by a dreamlike fog. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Okay, let's break it down. Cue the music.
You're traveling through another dimension...
A dimension not only of sight and sound...
...but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.
Your next stop---
The Twilight Zone!
Here it is in full-motion glory, down-rezzed into a fuzzy mess by Blogger...
That distinctive spiral appears on the covers both the DVD and blu-ray editions of season three from Image Entertainment.
For some a classic sequence, but to me its far from perfect. For one, the TZ logo this season looks cheap and dull compared to the regular one. Ditto on that lame "crumble" effect (its got nothing on the season 2 shatter effect). The editing is rather obvious especially on the blu-ray since the high quality of the transfer highlights the dupeyness of the season 2 pan down that's been spliced in. And there's just not a whole lot going on, all it is is just a spiraling cone thing that floats away from us into a cloud. Even the "Big Scary Eye From Hell" has some oomph to it, this seems a little weak.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should have a fondness for this since some of my most distinct early Twilight Zone memories ("Once Upon A Time" on a KOFY mini-marathon in 1990) had this intro but I just don't like it. It may be one of the reasons I don't really care much for season 3 in general... aside from the strange surplus of bad Serling scripts this year.
Well, you're gonna hate my new blog logo/banner then.... :D
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