The Art of Film Title Design throughout History

As part of this weeks homework, we were asked to research into "The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout History".

After researching online, I managed to find an interesting and rather reliable article!

The Article being - Reference:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/04/the-art-of-the-fi

lm-title-throughout-cinema-history/

Below is some relevant and suitable information I found from the article:

Titles in Silent film:

• Words and lettering played an enormous role in films of the silent era. Film titles made their appearance in the earliest silent films, along with letter cards (or inter-titles), which provided context.


• Lettering Artists within Silent Films collaborated with the scriptwriter and director to create narrative continuity so that audiences could follow what they were seeing.

Why have I extracted the above information?

I decided to extract the information above, mainly because I found the information to be useful. Furthermore, the article is reliable;therefore I automatically am aware that the information is correct and accurate.

Still Images:

Below are some interesting images from the main title release “The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari” (1920). I decided to extract these images mainly because they are from one of first ever Titles in a silent film. In addition, I must admit the typography within both still images is bold, in which I believe is eye-catching to me as the audience.

The true birth of Title Sequences:

• Breakthrough ideas in titling, such as timing the typography to interact with metaphorical imagery or to createits own world, were largely innovations that came from outsiders to the Hollywood studio system.


• Figures such as Saul Bass, Pablo Ferro, Maurice Binder and Richard Williams arrived on the scene in the 1950s, at a time when the studios were starting to flounder in their fight with TV.

Why have I extracted this information?

I have noted down these two facts above, mainly because I found them to be interesting and

very informative. Adding on, the second fact in which I've noted down is fairly important, especially seeing as there is a mention of some prolific title designers. For instance: Saul Bass

The above still image is an image from the film "North by NorthWest". I have decided to use this image, mainly because it has been extracted from a title sequence in which Saul Bass had designed and created. In fact, it is from his first ever title sequence in which he designed.

What do I like about the image?

The typography in which has been used is creative and rather colourful; therefore I get the feeling the rest of the title sequence is like this.

The Digital Era, And Modern Trends In Film Title Design:

• Every sphere of contemporary life — and especially the film business — has been affected by computers. For designers, creating film titles meant participating in the apprenticeship tradition


• The Internet-enabled archiving of everything and the plethora of schools that propagate countless design disciplines. Most significantly, we see designers working like filmmakers and filmmakers working like designers.

The above information has been extracted mainly because I found each fact to be useful, appropriate and suitable to what I was looking for. Furthermore, the above facts also state about how the computer and internet have revolutionized the way in which we see and view title sequences.

Typography Resources:

• HPHLS Vintage Prop Fonts -n amazing collection of revived vintage fonts, many of which were used in early cinema. Among them are faces based on the National Old Style, Colwell Handletter and Post Monotone no. 2.


• Silentina -The Silentina font family is a great modern take on typography from silent film inter-titles. Designed by Ray Larabie in 2004.


• Hitchcock -Hitchcock was created by designer Matt Terich as an homage to the lettering style of the iconic Saul Bass.