FONTS

Hi there,

What is a nice classy font that would look good for the end credits of an epic short film?

Thank you!!

Hi Eric
Open up /Applications/Font Book and pick something without serifs that you like ... if you can't decide then use Zapf Dingbats ;-)

Cheers
Andy

Never, ever use some of the more "fanciful" fonts that came with OS: Copperplate, Papyrus, Zapfino. Because every amateur editor who looks for an unusual font, but is too frugal to go outside the default fonts, will uses those ones. Using them in design will immediately put your film in amateur land.

When in doubt, go simple: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana. Remember, end credits are small and tightly packed, so if you use anything too fancy, they will be illegible. Making the font too large on end credits will also subliminally make it look "small" and unprofessional; feature films rarely have end-credit fonts beyond a certain size, because they were designed for the big screen.


www.derekmok.com

[url=

]Here are some end credits[/url] I used a version of Futura (I created a version with no dots on the is and js).

I used red for some of the type, I would advise against that, but in this case the film was called Crimson, so I had to go with it.


@alex4d

___________________________________________________
Alexandre Gollner,
Editor, Zone 2-North West, London

alex4d on twitter, facebook, .wordpress.com + .com

Actually, I basically meant opening credits at the end of the movie -

Directed by, Written by, Produced by, etc

Try Century Gothic (despite its name, it's a very clean non-serif font that is nicely weighted - the Bold works well for headers and the Plain for sub-headers)

Not to nitpick what Derek said, but if it were me, I'd stay as far as possible from Arial, Verdana or any other typeface that was originally created for use on a computer. There's no greater mark of the careless amateur than using a typeface meant for computer screens for another purpose.

Well, okay. There's one greater mark of the careless amateur: Using Lucida Grande, the default Final Cut Pro font.

Bear in mind that there are whole companies who get paid to do nothing other than design the end titles for feature films, so don't stress too much over the small details. Simple is almost always better; you don't need to try to channel Kyle Cooper on your short film. If you're seeking inspiration, pull out some of your DVD collection and take a look at the credits.

Oh, and don't make your end credits blue, no matter if blue is an important and symbolic color in your film, unless you want everybody to think you're ripping off "Star Wars." Made that mistake once, to my eternal shame.

Wow, Derek! You have relegated me to amateur status since I have used Copperplate on 3 feature films recently. It looks beautiful and, to my mind, somehow elegant.

It was originally suggested to me a title making company when we were searching for a simple font which somehow suggested a sophisticated feel.

I truly don't see why you would call it "fanciful". To me "fanciful" would be those awful fonts that make you think of a Nazi beer cellar or the ghastly "comedy" ones.

Ah well, I guess everything is in the eye of the beholder.

And now I'm an amateur.

Poor me.

Best

Harry The Amateur.

Harry Bromley-Davenport.

I know this has been posted here before - ages ago - it's a funny little film called "Trajan- The Movie Font"

[www.goodiebag.tv]

Harry

Harry Bromley-Davenport.

Lots of people don't realize just how much a typeface can communicate. It's almost subliminal. It might not register on a conscious level, but even casual film fans will associate Windsor with Woody Allen, Futura Bold with Wes Anderson and Futura Extra Bold with Stanley Kubrick. At least for the next few years, until it fades a bit from the collective memory, it'll be hard to use Bank Gothic white-on-black without unintentionally screaming "Battlestar Galactica," and even two decades later Eurostile still says late-80s "Star Trek" revival.

How do you get lowercase in Copperplate?

You don't. Copperplate is caps or small caps.

Type as per normal, but the caps are just a tiny little bit bigger, so it's not really obvious.

H.

Of course, Tom is right. That's what I meant. Sorry.

H.

It really depends on the genre of your film. Here are some design fonts you could try out. Of course, skip the thin fonts as they won't translate very well on TV.

[www.smashingmagazine.com]

and

[www.josbuivenga.demon.nl]



www.strypesinpost.com

Font selection and typography are so important.
What does epic mean? That doesn't give us a clue about the film. Think about it. Rent a couple "Epic" films of the same genre and go from there--look to see if the art director liked serif or sans serif fonts. Helvetica being sansserif, something like Caslon as a serif font. I would say, be careful of the thickness of the vertical elements of the letters. A whisper thin vertical line might look cool on the computer screen, but might look horrible on an interlaced television screen. Ask yourself if the titles will be against a plain black background or will they be against a moving image. Remember that a lot of people worked hard on the film. They deserve to see their names clearly.

Best,
Chet Simmons

Myriad or maybe Optima, if you are using standard typefaces that come with OS X. Century Gothic is a good workhorse typeface but it is too idiosyncratic for our time. If a trad/old school feel is what you want then Century Gothic would be a good candidate. Verdana has little character on "the big" screen and is monospaced for screen reading and web presentation.

You want to use type that has print heritage but not type that has been overused since the advent of Palatino on Laser Printers. Copperplate is a 50s typeface and is associated with a corporate look or wedding invites.

Look in magazines at big branded ads to get a sense of what is good type. My 2 cents worth.