Here's an example of what we are talking about. In our scene, Grandma and Grandpa are disco dancing at a family celebration. Let's use our type generator to spice up the scene with a few humorous captions.

First, we'll generate a title screen proclaiming Grandma and Grandpa "Saturday Night Fever -- Grand Champions!" The joke resolves itself in the next scene where we dissolve in the additional line "Wishful Thinking Division" over the gyrations of the on-screen couple.

This breaking of the invisible wall between the program and the audience isn't always appropriate, but with the family video we're discussing here, it'll be fine. Here there's no reason the videographer can't comment on the proceedings and share inside jokes with the audience, even if they're cheesy. And it's a good example of how adding type and graphics to your program gives you another way to communicate with your audience.

Not all colors in the spectrum are colors that will play out well on your TV. Wild colors can look cool on a computer, but a psychedelic green on your PC might end up looking seasick green when shown on a regular television.

You also need to be aware of the safe title areas on the screen. Most editing systems have a safe screen view for fonts. It's within the center 60-80 percent of the screen, and it keeps that overly large title "Jenny's Birthday" from playing out as "enny's Birthd".

Of course titling and graphics are also at home in everything from business to wedding videos. Anyone who has ever watched a movie understands the function of an opening title sequence. In the movies, it not only displays the title of the program, but it often carries a lot of information ranging from the production company logo, to names of the stars, director and other key players. Opening titles are the first impression we get of a movie and they strongly set the tone for what is to come. And titles wind down the end of the picture as well.

Titling and graphics in your videos can do the same thing, helping orient potential viewers to what they're going to see and making sure that the people doing the hard work to create the program get the credit they deserve. If you are not the most accomplished design professional, our realistic advice is to keep it simple. Use your titles to communicate as clearly as possible and try not to make them distracting. While it's natural to concentrate on your video and audio to carry story content to your audience, don't overlook the advantages of something as simple as on-screen type. So, no matter what type of program you're working on, spending some quality time working out your program graphics and titles can be worth it.

Next Month: Editing part 4: How to finesse your final project and sweeten your audio and effects.

Bill Davis writes, shoots, edits, and does voiceover work for a variety of corporate and industrial clients.

The best titles give you an introduction to the tone and spirit of the film. Sit down in a theater full of rabid "Star Wars" film fans and don't be surprised if they start cheering the moment they see the hallmark tilted back yellow type against a star field opening.

It's clear that director George Lucas doesn't have any type design limitations and could have fancier titles if he wanted them. In his latest films, his modern supercomputer technology imitates what was original done with painted words on a pane of glass.

It's the same brand identification power carried by a well known corporate logo or trademark ID. So, while you may never be lucky enough to have your works become such a pervasive brand, there's no reason you can't give the same careful thought to designing your titles and graphics.