Within film (production company, film title, subtitles etc),
there are a variety of fronts used for a range of reasons. Fonts are a broad
topic with many of things to consider, such as bold, italic, serif, sans serif
etc. the font alone can help identify what type of film/genre and determine
roughly what audience is more likely to notice and be enticed by it. It can
make a film seem boring and basic or exiting. Thrillers tend to have quite
large, noticeable fonts. Most of the time the fonts used are quite basic/simple
fonts, however sometimes they go for a 'handwritten/crafty' font. Another quite
obvious example in terms of fonts is action films. These films tend to use italic
fonts to show movement. The italics set a subliminal illusion of fast motion,
making it effective for action films as speed is a convention of this genre.
Below are a few examples of action film titles;
More importantly and targeted at my work, I have even more
examples of thrillers, allowing myself to take notes and help me choose the
font for my thriller and production company:
In the small sample of thriller title texts/fonts, other
than 'Seven' and 'The Sixth Sense' which come across fairly hand written and
'When A Stranger Calls' which is the anomalie of the sample as the text isn't
bold and slightly uses serifs, it is clear that most of the titles is styled in
big, bold, clear lettering. I think this is effective as it draws attention to
the title rather than just its surroundings. These types of fonts allow the
text to be strong enough to stand out among the mise-en-scene as well as making
a bold statement for the movie. In effect, it makes the audience more likely to
look at and remember the name of the movie, as it's fairly big and very clear
for them to see. Alternatively, quite a few titles use a handwritten styled
font, such as 'Seven' and 'The Sixth Sense'. To an extent, this font would be
useful when a film is pretty much being told by someone, completely from their
point of view,as if they're writing the story. The font alone gives the film a
personal touch. Furthermore, although 'When A Stranger Calls' is an anomalie in
my sample, it may be reasonable to not be a big or bold as the others. As this
title is slightly longer than most, it may take up too much space if is were
the same or similar font as the others.
In terms of colours, they are either really bright or dull
and dark. Most of the time when the colours are bright (usually yellow or
white) allowing them to stand out even more from the background which is
usually black or really dark. Sometimes the colour is red, symbolising danger,
death and blood. On the other hand, they can be dark and dim, possibly
portraying what may be coming in the movie isn't going to be bright and cheery.
'Unknown' uses two colours in the title, breaking the word up into two words:
'UNKNOWN'. This puts emphasis on the word 'known' as well as the word 'unknown'
which are antonyms as their meanings are opposites, confusing the audience
(which thrillers tend to do). This is an example of exactly how much colour can
have an impact on a title and what the audience may interpret from it. This,
along with different fonts, thicknesses etc can have this same affect.
For my thriller, the font I am inspired most by is 'BLACK
ROCK'. The font itself is a classic and simple font. Though, what I like most
about it is not only is it really clear (due to the spacing) but also the red
implies 'danger' and 'blood' which are two very important features of my
opening. Contrasted against the black background allows the text to stand out
further, as if it is jumping at you. Along woth help from the website
dafont.com, I have chosen a few examples for the opening title and production
title for my project. All of the fonts have their strengths and weaknesses and
are all quite different. However there is a common pattern in all of my
favorite ones.
Film Name Fonts;
1. This font is called 'Glass House' by Digital Graphic
Labs.
This font seems to represent letters with a shattered
effect. This would be effective as I plan to do shots of the murderer looking
in the mirror. This font could imply that he's broken the mirror, or that he's
'shattered' the victims life. The reason we may not use this font is because we
intend to go for a more simplistic look,similar to the other thriller fonts I
researched.
2. This is 'Random House' by Janice Faucher.
This font has a stalker effect to it, as it is often stalkers cut up letters of a variety of fonts and put them together to make fonts. This would be useful for the opening as the murderer initially stalks the victim, before killing her. In relation to my research, similar to the way 'Seven' and 'The Sixth Sense' adds a personal touch to the title, this font also seems as if the murderer done it. However, this doesn't really fit with the story line, as the murderer doesn't want to be in or admit this.
3. 'MB HorrorHouse' by Irina ModBlackmoon.
At first, I though this would be a good font for the opening. It represents a shock or explosion of some type. However, this has no relation to the film so it is unlikely that we will use this one.
4. This is 'The Gingerbread House' by Christopher Hansen.
To me, this style of font is more for a children's scary movie. However, the reason i chose to add it to my collection of 'favorite fonts' is because is still has that 'scary affect'. I feel that children would respond better to this font than adults. As our target audience is young adults to mature adults, it is also unlikely that we will be using this font.
5. This font is called 'AlphaShapes Houses' By Fonts & Things.
This font relates very much to the actual title of the opening, Mad House, as each letter is on a house. However, similar to the font above, it comes across quite childish and not a font you would expect to see in a thriller. For these reasons, this font will not be used.
6. 'Crazy Killer' by The Font Emporium.
I think this would be a fantastic font for the film. This also adds the personal, handwritten feel to the title. Although this font looks hand written, it also seems as if it has been written by someone who is angry. I think this font would work well with my film. However, I would prefer a thicker, bolder font that would stand out even more.
7. This font is 'Surviour Series' by Jayde Garrow.
What I like most about this font is that in my opinion, it stands out the most. The boldness is closely related to the thriller fonts I researched as it it big. It is more likely that we use this font for the opening, possibly in a different colour. What I like most about this font is that it is loud and unmissable. A change in colour would enhance this even more.
Production Name Fonts
1. 'Clocker' by Tipografia Leone.
This is one of my favorite fonts for my production company. Most of the letters represent a clock, using the arms of a clock to make this obvious. This correlates mostly with my production name as movement of the arms of a clock are what make the 'tic toc' sound. Although I really like this font and think it uses a good technique of the clock arms, the letter C is difficult to recognize and can easily be mistaken for a lower case E. This means that understanding the name and any deeper annotations to it would require too much from its viewers.
2. This font is called 'Time To Get A Watch' by Melissa Choyce.
This is also one of my favorite fonts for my production name. The use of cogs and bolts (mechanic things, possibly what would be found in a watch) symbolises unity and team work as these parts have to work with each other in order for things to go as they should. However, as the name of my production company is quite long, all the letters seem as if they're too much.This reduces the likelihood of me using this font.
3. This font is 'Grand Prix' by Nick's Fonts.
This font definitely adds a 'traditional film' effect to it. To an extent, this could be to represent the time difference in film, and how now they have developed. In this sense, it would relate to the meaning of my production name as it is all about time. However, the font itself doesn't get across what i would like to get across and limits how much other effects I can add to it.
4. 'Digital 7' by Style-7.
This font simply represents the look of a digital clock. For this reason, it relates to my production name as, as mentioned above, it is all about time. However, the deeper meaning of the 'Tic Toc' aspect would mean that the clock would have to be analogue, as digital clocks don't make the sound effect my production name represents.
6. This font is called 'Roboto Bold' by Google Android Design.
What I like most about this design is the pure simplicity of it. It doesn't say or do too much, leaving a lot of the focus to be on the production logo itself, which i believe will stand out even more and be more recognizable to the viewers. I chose to use the bold version of this font as I believe it still stands out more than the original. As the font isn't too specific, it can be used for a company making films for a variety of genres, not only thrillers. I will probably be using this font for my production company.
