This article investigates the role of typography in cinema and its impact on the cinematic experience. From the early days of photography and cinema, typography has been used to present words on the screen, enhancing the believability of visual storytelling. As technology evolved, typography continued to serve diverse purposes in films, such as facilitating dialogue, narration, and conveying essential information. Cinema theorists, designers, and semioticians argue that typography in cinema serves specific narrative, aesthetic, and functional objectives. This study draws on semiotic theory, historical context, and insights from design and typography studies to analyze the significance of typography in cinematic storytelling. The article also explores the works of influential theorists, including Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault, who contributed to understanding the relationship between text and image. Typography has played a crucial role in cinema since the early days of silent films. It has been used not only for informational purposes such as opening titles, subtitles, and end credits but also as a narrative tool to enhance storytelling through visual means. Narrative typography in films adds expressive qualities, conveys tone and emotions, and can manipulate viewer attention. On the other hand, the typography of opening titles serves informational and aesthetic needs by providing detailed information about the film's production. Early experiments with motion typography paved the way for its creative use and expressive potential. Typography continued to evolve while pushed the boundaries of cinematic narrative. However, cinema, like any art form, has gone through phases of complexity and regression, with experimentation leading to new hybrid forms of processing text and images. The exploration of typography in cinema, influenced by linguistic syntax and visual processing, continues to shape cinematic language and storytelling. By focusing on the embedded, narrative or non-narrative text that becomes virtual, this study aims to uncover the additional meanings conveyed through typography and its role in enhancing the cinematic narrative.
| Published in | American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 8, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12 |
| Page(s) | 107-112 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Typography, Cinematic Narration, Semiotics, Graphic Design
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| [10] | Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt Psychology (International Library of Psychology) by Kurt Koffka (1935–12-06). Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC. |
| [11] | McLuhan, M., & Lapham, L. H. (1994). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (Reprint ed.). The MIT Press. |
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APA Style
Kremida, E., Laskari, I., Siakas, S. (2023). Typography as Narrative Parameter of Cinematic Art. American Journal of Art and Design, 8(4), 107-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12
ACS Style
Kremida, E.; Laskari, I.; Siakas, S. Typography as Narrative Parameter of Cinematic Art. Am. J. Art Des. 2023, 8(4), 107-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12
AMA Style
Kremida E, Laskari I, Siakas S. Typography as Narrative Parameter of Cinematic Art. Am J Art Des. 2023;8(4):107-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12,
author = {Eleni Kremida and Iro Laskari and Spyridon Siakas},
title = {Typography as Narrative Parameter of Cinematic Art},
journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
volume = {8},
number = {4},
pages = {107-112},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20230804.12},
abstract = {This article investigates the role of typography in cinema and its impact on the cinematic experience. From the early days of photography and cinema, typography has been used to present words on the screen, enhancing the believability of visual storytelling. As technology evolved, typography continued to serve diverse purposes in films, such as facilitating dialogue, narration, and conveying essential information. Cinema theorists, designers, and semioticians argue that typography in cinema serves specific narrative, aesthetic, and functional objectives. This study draws on semiotic theory, historical context, and insights from design and typography studies to analyze the significance of typography in cinematic storytelling. The article also explores the works of influential theorists, including Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault, who contributed to understanding the relationship between text and image. Typography has played a crucial role in cinema since the early days of silent films. It has been used not only for informational purposes such as opening titles, subtitles, and end credits but also as a narrative tool to enhance storytelling through visual means. Narrative typography in films adds expressive qualities, conveys tone and emotions, and can manipulate viewer attention. On the other hand, the typography of opening titles serves informational and aesthetic needs by providing detailed information about the film's production. Early experiments with motion typography paved the way for its creative use and expressive potential. Typography continued to evolve while pushed the boundaries of cinematic narrative. However, cinema, like any art form, has gone through phases of complexity and regression, with experimentation leading to new hybrid forms of processing text and images. The exploration of typography in cinema, influenced by linguistic syntax and visual processing, continues to shape cinematic language and storytelling. By focusing on the embedded, narrative or non-narrative text that becomes virtual, this study aims to uncover the additional meanings conveyed through typography and its role in enhancing the cinematic narrative.
},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Typography as Narrative Parameter of Cinematic Art AU - Eleni Kremida AU - Iro Laskari AU - Spyridon Siakas Y1 - 2023/12/28 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12 T2 - American Journal of Art and Design JF - American Journal of Art and Design JO - American Journal of Art and Design SP - 107 EP - 112 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2578-7802 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230804.12 AB - This article investigates the role of typography in cinema and its impact on the cinematic experience. From the early days of photography and cinema, typography has been used to present words on the screen, enhancing the believability of visual storytelling. As technology evolved, typography continued to serve diverse purposes in films, such as facilitating dialogue, narration, and conveying essential information. Cinema theorists, designers, and semioticians argue that typography in cinema serves specific narrative, aesthetic, and functional objectives. This study draws on semiotic theory, historical context, and insights from design and typography studies to analyze the significance of typography in cinematic storytelling. The article also explores the works of influential theorists, including Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault, who contributed to understanding the relationship between text and image. Typography has played a crucial role in cinema since the early days of silent films. It has been used not only for informational purposes such as opening titles, subtitles, and end credits but also as a narrative tool to enhance storytelling through visual means. Narrative typography in films adds expressive qualities, conveys tone and emotions, and can manipulate viewer attention. On the other hand, the typography of opening titles serves informational and aesthetic needs by providing detailed information about the film's production. Early experiments with motion typography paved the way for its creative use and expressive potential. Typography continued to evolve while pushed the boundaries of cinematic narrative. However, cinema, like any art form, has gone through phases of complexity and regression, with experimentation leading to new hybrid forms of processing text and images. The exploration of typography in cinema, influenced by linguistic syntax and visual processing, continues to shape cinematic language and storytelling. By focusing on the embedded, narrative or non-narrative text that becomes virtual, this study aims to uncover the additional meanings conveyed through typography and its role in enhancing the cinematic narrative. VL - 8 IS - 4 ER -
Department of Graphic Arts, Multimedia, Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece
Department of Graphic Arts, Multimedia, Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece
Department of Graphic Arts, Multimedia, Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece; Department of Graphic Design and Visual Communication, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
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