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Typography and Motion Graphics

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Typography and Motion Graphics i Typography and Motion Graphics In his latest book, Michael Betancourt explores the nature and role of typography in motion graphics as a way to consider its distinction from static design using the concept of the ‘reading- image’ to model the ways that motion typography dramatizes the process of reading and audience recognition of language on- screen. Using both classic and contemporary title sequences— including The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), Alien (1979), Flubber (1998), Six Feet Under (2001), The Number 23 (2007), and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)— Betancourt develops an argu- ment about what distinguishes motion graphics from graphic design. Moving beyond title sequences, Betancourt also analyzes moving or kinetic typography in logo designs, commercials, film trailers, and infor- mation graphics, offering a striking theoretical model for understanding typography in media. Michael Betancourt is a research artist/theorist concerned with digital technology and capitalist ideology. His writing has been translated into Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and published in journals such as The Atlantic, Make Magazine, CTheory, and Leonardo. He is the author of The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Manifesto, and books such as The History of Motion Graphics, and The Critique of Digital Capitalism, as well as three books on the semiotics of motion graphics: Semiotics and Title Sequences, Synchronization and Title Sequences, and Title Sequences as Paratexts. These publications complement his movies, which have screened internationally at the Black Maria Film Festival, Art Basel Miami Beach, Contemporary Art Ruhr, Athens Video Art Festival, Festival des Cinemas Differents de Paris, Anthology Film Archives, Millennium Film Workshop, the San Francisco Cinematheque’s Crossroads, and Experiments in Cinema, among many others. ii Routledge Studies in Media Theory & Practice 1 Semiotics and Title Sequences Text- Image Composites in Motion Graphics Authored by Michael Betancourt 2 Synchronization and Title Sequences Audio- Visual Semiosis in Motion Graphics Authored by Michael Betancourt 3 Title Sequences as Paratexts Narrative Anticipation and Recapitulation Authored by Michael Betancourt 4 The Screenwriters Taxonomy A Collaborative Approach to Creative Storytelling Authored by Eric R. Williams 5 Open Space New Media Documentary A Toolkit for Theory and Practice Patricia R. Zimmermann and Helen De Michiel 6 Film & TV Tax Incentives in the U.S. Courting Hollywood Authored by Glenda Cantrell and Daniel Wheatcroft 7 Typography and Motion Graphics The ‘Reading- Image’ Authored by Michael Betancourt iii Typography and Motion Graphics The ‘Reading- Image’ Michael Betancourt iv First published 2019 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Michael Betancourt The right of Michael Betancourt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 02928- 9 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 02930- 2 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Out of House Publishing v For Leah vi vii Contents List of Figures viii Acknowledgments xii Motion Typography 2 A History of Formalist Approaches 7 Legibility 11 The Technical Lineage 19 Typography and Titling 26 The ‘Reading- Image’ 39 1 Kinetic Action 43 2 Graphic Expression 68 3 Chronic Progression 102 4 Conclusions 126 Motion versus Static Design 126 Reading/ Discourse 128 The Role of Kinesis 130 Constraints on Semiosis 133 Index 144 viii Figures Frontis Stills from Postcard Film © 1999 Michael Betancourt / Artists Rights Society (ARS). This movie creates a ‘reading- image’ (chronic progression) using a combination of imaging technologies superimposed as a palimpsest: photolithographic postcard of a beach scene in New Jersey from 1896, 16 mm film shot on an animation stand, digital video, and finally the electronic compositing possibilities of the digital computer to compress and expand time while merging footage from various sources 1 0.1 “The Tyger” from Songs of Experience by William Blake (1794) 4 0.2 “Typographus, Der Buchdrucker” (Typographer, The Printer) from Das Ständebuch (The Book of Trades, 1568), illustration by Jost Amman (1539– 91) and text by Hans Sachs (1494– 1576) 12 0.3 Promotional flyer for “A Secret Showing of Underground Films Thurs Midnite The Place Theater,” artist uncredited, San Francisco, c. 1968 16 0.4 Diagram of the two parallel variables in Barbara Brownie’s study of motion typography, Transforming Type 18 0.5 All the title cards in the title sequence for The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) 25 0.6 Selected stills from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), showing examples of integrated typography and graphics within the diegesis 32 0.7 Stills stating “DU MUSST CALIGARI WERDEN” (“YOU MUST BECOME CALIGARI”) from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), showing extra- diegetic typography 34 ix List of Figures ix 1.1 Stills showing the animated entrance [Top], kinetic motions [Middle], and exit [Bottom] of the main title card for Psycho (1960), designed by Saul Bass 50 1.2 Stills from Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) by Marv Newland 53 1.3 Selected stills from the title sequence for The Number 23 (2007), designed by Peter Frankfurt, showing animation of text and substitution of numbers for letters 56 1.4 Examples of numerology from the title sequence for The Number 23 (2007), designed by Peter Frankfurt 57 1.5 Stills from Fluxfilm #29: Word Movie (1966) by Paul Sharits 57 1.6 Four consecutive frames from the titles for Blinkety Blank (1955) by Norman McLaren, showing the word “OBOE” blink, disappear, and then return 60 1.7 The extrusion of “Uncola” and movement through the letter “U” in “Bubbles,” designed by Robert Abel (1975) 64 2.1 Stills from the ‘nightlife’ sequence in N. Y., N. Y. (1958) by Francis Thompson 72 2.2 Stills showing optical distortions in [Top] Francis Thompson, N.Y., N.Y. (1958); [Middle] Ira Cohen, The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (1968); [Bottom] Nick Hooker, Corporate Cannibal (2008) 74 2.3 J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Walker Evans, “Times Square / Broadway Composition,” 1930, photograph, 24.8 × 21.7 cm (9 3/ 4 × 8 9/ 16 in.) 76 2.4 [Top] Stills from the end of Rhythmus 21 (Film ist Rhythmus, 1921/ 23) by Hans Richter, showing the influence of his film in [Bottom] all the title cards forThe Man With The Golden Arm (1955), designed by Saul Bass 79 2.5 Cross- shaped mask from the opening to Stella Maris (1919) 80 2.6 All the title cards in Arabesque (1966), designed by Maurice Binder 82 2.7 Selected stills from Poemfield No. 2 (1966– 1971) by Stan VanDerBeek and Kenneth Knowlton, produced at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ 84 2.8 Selected stills from Monster Movie (2005) by Takeshi Murata 85 2.9 “Tu seras parmi les victims” (“You will be among the victims”), Surrealist collage poem by André Breton, c. 1924 [Left: original French text including typeface choices; Right: English translation] 87 x x List of Figures 2.10 Selected stills from film and tv program titles containing white lines: [row 1] The James Dean Story (1958); [row 2] Surprise Package (1960); [row 3] The Pink Panther (1964); [row 4] The Twilight Zone (1959); [row 5] Boris Karloff’s Thriller (1960); [row 6] The Outer Limits (1961); [row 7] Mission Impossible (1964); [row 8] Time Tunnel (1967); [row 9] The Brady Bunch (1969) 90 2.11 Skeuomorphic alphabets: [Top] Der Menschenalphabet by Peter Flötner (1534); [Bottom] The Man of Letters, or Pierrot’s Alphabet, unknown designer, published by Bowles & Carver (1794) 92 2.12 Selected stills from the skeuomorphic main title animation in Danse Macabre (1921), designed by F. A. A. Dahme 93 2.13 Animated title cards from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), designed by Walter Lantz, showing the skeuomorphic main title animation 94 2.14 Graphic typography in film trailers: [Top]Sh! The Octopus (1938); [Bottom] Dracula (1931, for the rerelease in 1951) 97 2.15 Selected stills from the title sequence for Flubber (1997), designed by Kyle Cooper 98 3.1 Stills showing the text transformations in the logo resolve ident for WTOP- TV, Washington, DC, produced by Scanimate (1975) 103 3.2 Selected stills from the title sequence for The Number 23 (2007), designed by Peter Frankfurt, showing the emergent “23” 104 3.3 Asemic composition, 2013_ 010 July 17, 2013 by Michael Betancourt / Artists Rights Society 106 3.4 Selected stills from Primiti Too Taa (1988) by Ed Ackerman 110 3.5 Selected stills from Primiti Too Taa (1988) by Ed Ackerman, showing onomatopoetic typography 111 3.6 All the title cards in Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) by J. Stuart Blackton 114 3.7 Selected title cards from Alien (1979), designed by Richard Greenberg 115 3.8 All the title cards in Rumba (1935) 116 3.9 Stills from the title sequence for Six Feet Under (2001), designed by Danny Yount, showing the first [Top] and last [Middle] credits, and the title card for the main title [Bottom] 117 C.1 Diagram of the two parallel variables in Barbara Brownie’s study of motion typography, Transforming Type 135 xi List of Figures xi C.2 Stills stating “DU MUSST CALIGARI WERDEN” (“YOU MUST BECOME CALIGARI”) from The Cabinet of Dr.
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