Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Film Leader: A sweeping line and circle at center, inspection lettering in the corners
- Type
- Set in Film Leader's manner (Heavy monospaced numerals sized to half the frame height), and let Title Sequence's lettering (One face only, entrances and exits designed to the musical beat) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Film Leader's material (Keep the grain and flicker, and move the scratches every frame); bring in exactly one thing from Title Sequence (Art built apart from the feature, few colors, one repeated motif).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Film Leader and Title Sequence share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Film Leader Placing the countdown purely as decoration while the film behind it does not start on the beat the numbers just promised.
- Title Sequence Decoration unrelated to the feature is not the form, since only the structure that summarizes the theme survives, and when moving the names becomes the point there is no time to read them.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Film Leader (Style, 1930s–) and its accent from Title Sequence (Style, 1955–). Structural cues: Countdown numerals; Sync marks and punch holes; Inspection lettering; Scratches and flicker. Accent cues, used sparingly: Cut-paper shapes; Type synced to music; The theme compressed; Art independent of the feature. Composition: A sweeping line and circle at center, inspection lettering in the corners. Type and lettering: Heavy monospaced numerals sized to half the frame height. Let one material quality come from the second style: Art built apart from the feature, few colors, one repeated motif. Mood: Technology, Nostalgia, Rebellion, Exhilaration, Luxury, Play. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Film Leader 1930s– / Style / Film Technology
The countdown at the head of a print, there for synchronization and inspection. Reversed lettering, punch holes and numbers falling from 8 to 2 were purely functional shapes, and they turned into the cultural sign that the film is about to start.
- Title Sequence 1955– / Style / Broadcast Design
A film's opening minutes designed as a work in their own right, with shape, type and music synchronized to state the theme before the story does. Saul Bass redefined the title as a prologue rather than a preview.
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