Typography in Film Title Sequence Design

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Lecturer, Department of Visual Communication, Faculty of Architecture and Art, University of Guilan, Rasht

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Communication, Faculty of Visual Arts, University of Art, Tehran

Abstract

A title sequence is the beginning and the audience’s first center of attention to the film, in which the film’s title, key production and cast and crew along with some special notions related to the film’s content are introduced through typography. A film title sequence may include live action, animation, music, still images and graphics. With the invention of the cinematograph, in order to identify the film and its production company and also to signal the beginning and the end of the film to viewer, simple title cards were used to begin and end silent film presentations. Although such title cards evolved to become more elaborate film title sequences over time, typography has always been the significant part of them. Due to the importance of typography in title sequence design, the method of utilizing and applying the Farsi font and coordinating them with screen media has been one of the most important challenges in this field in Iran from the start. The purpose of this research is to study the effective factors in forming a title sequence suited to the field of graphic design, and to provide access to a series of notes for making informed choices of Farsi typefaces that are appropriate for screen media and the correct usage of their abilities and capacities in those media. In this research, the extent and the method of the usage of the different types of prevalent Farsi typefaces, and the method of phrasing the message’s content through font in Iranian film title sequences are explored in over 80 Iranian films from the start of Iran’s cinema until today. Data analysis in this research has quasi-statistical style. Target population is all Iranian film title sequences, among which the research samples are chosen purposefully. Research tool is a checklist designed by the researcher. The reliability and validity of the checklist are examined through test-retest method and specialists’ evaluations. Each part of checklist is designed in order to obtain the research answers and to collect the necessary information. The method of gathering information was the semi-structured observation. The statistics show that the most frequent typeface used in the research samples was Zar. Zar is the oldest Farsi font and therefore it is quite reasonable that it is seen in the most early film title sequences in Iran.  It seems that analyzing Zar can lead to better understand the capacities of the font for its more suitable usage on screen and digital media. Furthermore, the examination of the 80 Iranian film title sequences reveals that the most frequent typefaces used in these title sequences were static and fixed. The reason can be related to the date of the research samples’ productions. Certainly, in order to reveal the relation between the date of films productions and technological limitations of the time, these two variations must be examined in subsequent researches. Overall, the research result clearly shows that most of typographies in Iranian film title sequences are without paying adequate attention to the media and its characteristics

Keywords

References

استراوس، انسلم و کربین، جولیت (1390)، مبانی پژوهش کیفی: فنون و مراحل تولید نظریه‌ی زمینه‌ای، ترجمه‌ی ابراهیم افشار، نشر نی، تهران.
باس، سائول (1377)، فیلم‌ کوتاه سینمای مستقل،ترجمه‌ی شاپورعظیمی، انتشارات بنیاد سینمایی فارابی و انجمن سینمای جوانان ایران، تهران.
باورز، جان (1391)، مقدمه‌ای بر طراحی دوبعدی: درک فرم و کارکرد،ترجمه‌ی سودابه صالحی و مرجان زاهدی، انتشارات حرفه‌هنرمند، تهران.
حافظ‌ نیا، محمدرضا (1387)، مقدمه‌ای بر روش تحقیق در علوم انسانی، سازمان مطالعه و تدوین کتب  علوم انسانی دانشگاه‌ها (سمت)، تهران.
حسینی‌راد، عبدالمجید (1386)، مبانی هنرهای تجسمی-گروه تحصیلی هنر، انتشارات چاپ و نشر کتاب‌های درسی ایران، تهران.
سعیدی پور، فرشته (1376)، گرافیک در عنوان بندی فیلم،انتشارات سروش، تهران.
صادقی، مهدی (1387)، گرافیک و سینما،انتشارات میردشتی، تهران.
کریمی، بیژن (1387)، سرشت زمان،انتشارات عرفان، تهران.
Baines, Ph & Haslam, A (2005), Type and typography, Laurence King Publishing, London.
Bellantoni, J & Woolman, M (1999), Type in motion: Innovations indigital graphics, Rizzoli International Publications, New York.
Bellantoni, J & Woolman, M (2000), Moving type: Designing for time andspace, RotoVision SA Publications, Switzerland.
Bishop, S & Hartman, A (2013), Interactive media design and development with Adobe CS6.  Clifton Park, Delmar, Cengage Learning, NY.
Byrne, B & Braha, Y (2012),Creative motion graphic titling: Titling with motion graphics for film, video, and the web, FL: CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Clark, B & Spohr, S (2002),Guide to postproduction for TV and film: Managing the process (2nd ed.), Focal Press, Burlington, MA.
Ellison, A (2006), The complete guide to digital type: Creative use of typography in the digital arts,Laurence King Publishing, London.
Erickson, G; Tulchin, H & Halloran, M (2010), The independent film producer's survival guide (3rd ed.), NY, Schirmer Trade Books, New York.
Gage, J (1999), Color and meaning: Art, science, and symbolism, CA, University of California Press, Oakland.
Gorden, B (2001), Making digital type look good, Thames & Hudson, London.
Gorkin, B & Carnase, T (1995), Type: The best in digital classic text font, NY: Watson-Guptill, New York.
Heller, S (2003), Teaching graphic design: Course offerings and class projects from the leading graduate and undergraduate programs, NY: Skyhorse Publishing Inc, New York.
Jury, D (2009), What is typography?, Rotovision, Switzerland.
Krasner, J (2014), Motion graphic design: Applied history and aesthetics, FL: CRC Press, Boca Raton.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2001). Research in education: A conceptual introduction, 5th ed, NY: Longman, New York.
Panofsky, E (1997), Style and medium in the moving picture: Ananthology. In Irving Lavin (ed.), Three essays on style (pp.91-126), MA: MIT Press, Cambridge.
Weisenmiller, E.M (1999) A study of the readability of on screen text, unpublished doctoral dissertation, PolytechnicInstitute and State University, Virginia.
Yu, L (2008), Typography in film title sequence design, Unpublished Master of Fine Arts dissertation, Iowa State University.
 
 
Journal of Fine Arts: Visual Arts
Volume 21, Issue 3
December 2016
Pages 75-86

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics