When many think of the opening of a film, it’s the score, the opening image, that initial moment. But sometimes the unsung hero of a film’s memorable beginning is the title design, the specific font and kerning, how it enters the image, how it draws the eye, and what it says about the story it is introducing.
A new video by The Academy titled Title Design: The Making of Movie Titles delves into openings of films with title designer Dan Perri, who talks about gems such as Raging Bull and Star Wars. “I fell in love with letter when I was about 12 years old,” Perri recalls, who has since worked on a vast amount of title designs — including Days of Heaven, Raising Arizona, and The Exorcist, not to mention Nashville, Taxi Driver, and All the President’s Men.
See the full video below.