Link: Art of the Title: The Rockford Files

Oh man, did I love this show. Watching and watching and watching this clip was like a time capsule of my youth exploding. There’s something about the high ISO film grain and the sequencing in these stills that gets right to the heart of the Jim Rockford character and seeing them again, I realized how much they informed my childhood. There’s something so great about the late afternoon/early evening Los Angeles light in the stills at the end:

Rockford files credits: still

Rockford Files credits still

Rockford Files

In my photography, especially the mobile work I’ve done, I’ve tried to capture this feeling of a 1970s childhood, using light and texture to evoke a mood. I’ve tried to do this with digital cameras and sometimes I think I’ve nailed it, other times, eh.

Seeing this title sequence was a smack upside the head, jarring loose a ton of memories and reverie of delicious grainy not quite optimal magic hour light memories of riding my bike, tank top and jeans shorts dirtied from the day of popsicles, playing in dirt and pretending to be Evel Knievel. This show was required watching in my house. My parents loved the show. I loved the intro with the answering machine and the way pop culture references sprung up in the show. It was clever without too much Hollywood pretense. Perfect for middle America. This show informed my idea of Los Angeles for most of my life before adulthood.

If you haven’t already clicked the title and watched the credits, you should. If you are too lazy to scroll back up, here you go: The Rockford Files (1974) — Art of the Title

(Hat tip: @zuhl. And yes, I know, Gruber linked already.)