The camera then glides over the pond, revealing lily pads in bloom. In the creditsвЂ™ sole moving shot, a leaf gently drops through darkness and hits the calm, dark surface of water, creating ripples that catch a white edge of light. The trickiest part was lighting the lily pond. We used a couple of Maxi-Brutes through heavy gridcloth, and we had to have a lot of stop В— we were shooting at T8 to T16, depending.вЂќ We wanted a soft side source that would create a nice graphic sense. ItвЂ™s not just a matter of getting a few lights and diffusing them.вЂќ Says Quinn, вЂњWe wanted to use cleaner light than we used in the movie, something with pristine clarity. We wanted a soft, diffuse light, which is really difficult to get just right. Though the objects needed to be brilliant against a black background, вЂњwe didnвЂ™t want a harsh spotlight,вЂќ says Wright. The success of the title sequence, which Quinn shot on Kodak Vision2 500T 5218, also depended on perfect lighting. вЂњThen we decided to shoot the whole sequence with the same lens so it wouldnвЂ™t have a jump in perspective.вЂќ Different lenses were used only when necessary В— to track the peacockвЂ™s unpredictable movements, for instance (which required a 10:1 Angenieux zoom), or when the Revolution wasnвЂ™t available for a specific shot (in which case Cooke S4s served instead). вЂњWe needed the depth on that tiny macro world,вЂќ says Quinn. The Revolution was initially selected in order to film a moth drawn to a flame, an image that was later dropped. вЂњThe optics use smaller lenses so you can get more depth of field, creating this sense of a smaller creatureвЂ™s point of view.вЂќ вЂњOne of the great advantages is that it can be reached out over a table or can ride right on the surface, and the camera body doesnвЂ™t get in the way,вЂќ says Quinn. Often used for tabletop work, the modular lens system has a snorkel configuration that allows for live horizontal panning. вЂњThe idea was to have deep depth of field and make these amazing objects come out of the black.вЂќ To achieve this, director of photography Declan Quinn decided to use Cine MagicвЂ™s Revolution lens on his Arri 435. вЂњIt felt like we were adding effects just for the sake of it.вЂќД«ut the iconic objects definitely needed to be special, almost вЂњhyper-real,вЂќ he adds. вЂњIt seemed cheap, in a way,вЂќ explains Wright. Despite the beauty of some shots, all but one were rejected. The aim was to create something dreamlike, as though вЂњyou see something thatвЂ™s real, then reach out and find itвЂ™s gone,вЂќ says TrollbГ¤ck.

They tried shooting through prisms, rippled Plexiglas and other transparent objects that would distort, split or move the image. вЂњThe whole sequence falls flat if every image isnвЂ™t just stunning,вЂќ notes Jakob TrollbГ¤ck, whose firm also designed credits for Mira NairвЂ™s Monsoon Wedding and Hysterical Blindness.ДЄt first, Wright and TrollbГ¤ck considered using layered imagery in the transitional shots. Like any good haiku, the sequence looks easy but required great care.

вЂњBut as you watch the film and think back to the titles, the themes start to slide into place.вЂќ вЂњWhen youвЂ™re watching the titles for the first time, these things wonвЂ™t necessarily resonate,вЂќ says Joe Wright of TrollbГ¤ck and Company, the New York graphic-design studio that created the title sequence. Each fleeting image is presented in extreme close-up against a pitch-black background, and each suggests an underlying theme in ThackerayвЂ™s classic novel: the mating dance, surface beauty, the corrupting power of money, Orientalism, the passage of time. A peacockвЂ™s iridescent head fills the screen, followed by a rose, then a female hand closing around a strand of pearls, then a swirling Indian skirt, and then a dry leaf falling into a lily pond. The opening credits for Vanity Fair are more like a haiku: spare, elegant and suggestive. Some title sequences set up a filmвЂ™s storyline, whereas others establish a mood.

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