Video Editing : A Titillating Tickler on Titling

Morgan Paar
February 2007

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Titles are often an afterthought for video producers. Something needs to introduce your work - why not a title? Titles can do so much more for a video than just tell the audience the general theme of the work. Some Hollywood producers spend tens of thousands of dollars for their opening titles. Remember the opening title sequence of David Fincher's film Se7en? Kyle Cooper, the title designer, sculpted this intricate, densely layered sequence with individual words superimposed over each other - some fading in as others faded out, and some jolting right or left as others lurched around the screen. It was all the talk when it came out in 1995. And it is still being imitated today (rent the Platinum Series DVD to learn more about the titles).

A certain title sequence can also become a "trademark" of sorts for your film. Think of the circular gunbarrel matte used in James Bond films, where a silhouetted Bond steps into the circle and fires his gun toward the audience. And who can forget the Star Wars fading-into-oblivion titles?

Then there are producers like Jim Jarmusch who usually use simple bold white words on a black background. Some movies don't even have opening titles; they just get right into the story, a technique that may work for some of your videos. A title is not mandatory. The main thing to remember is that all of these titles set the mood for your work and progress the story just as every scene in your piece should do. It is not just arbitrary fonts with random colors thrown somewhere in your video. Your video should be stronger once the title is added.

Keep in mind that trendy title styles and techniques are often hot today but stone cold tomorrow. We give this warning because you could figure out how some big Hollywood filmmakers made their flashy titles and imitate them, but will they be out of fashion in two years, dating your work? Something to think about. Many times less is more. That said, titles are often the first image the audience sees and first impressions go a long way.

Another consideration is your final distribution format. Are you sure your video is going to be playing on the big screen in nationwide multiplexes across the country or is it more likely to be on YouTube or another Internet outlet? Your titles will have to be bigger and bolder if your finished piece will be seen at 320x240 pixels on a Web site.

Though titles may be an afterthought for many producers, titlers included with editing software packages are no longer an afterthought for editing software designers. Most are extremely robust, oftentimes designed by third party software companies. It can often be just as difficult to learn all the minute complexities of the title software as it is to learn the main editing software. Worry not, as many come with simple template-type options. That said, the more you know how to customize your titles, the more original they will be.

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