2001: Original Font?
Thomas F. Henriksen
Howdy folks:
I thought I posted this a week ago but it never did show up (or if it did,
I never saw it), so I'm trying it again. Please excuse the annoyance if
this is a repeat post...
*** My Question: ***
My NTSC VHS widescreen edition of "2001: A Space Odyssey" has the OVERTURE,
ENTR'ACTE, EXIT MUSIC, etc., in a roman-style font. Silvery-white letters
against a black background, nothing else. Really striking.
My NTSC LaserDisc widescreen edition has the same titles, but the font is
that cheesy "computer" type font (like the account and routing numbers on
checks)
in blue lettering with still graphics in the background. I don't find this
nearly as striking as my VHS tape.
Does anyone know which font style, if either, was shown in the original run
of
the movie?
--
Thomas F. Henriksen
henr...@nospam.clinton.net
Remove >>nospam<< from email address to reply.
geoffrey alexander
>Howdy folks:
>*** My Question: ***
>--
>Thomas F. Henriksen
The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
trying to discover......
[SK likes san serif, modern typefaces, helvetica and all its cousins
included.....]
--
Geoffrey Alexander
The Kubrick Site @ http://beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us/~tks
Thomas F. Henriksen
geoffrey alexander <geof...@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us> wrote in article
<geoffrey....@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us>...
> "Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
<snip>
> >Does anyone know which font style, if either, was shown in the original
run
> >of
> >the movie?
> The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
> Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
> trying to discover......
>
> [SK likes san serif, modern typefaces, helvetica and all its cousins
> included.....]
>
So, i.e., neither the LD or the VHS typeface is the original, then? Or did
I miss the boat? :)
geoffrey alexander
"Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
>geoffrey alexander <geof...@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us> wrote in article
><geoffrey....@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us>...
>> "Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
><snip>
>> >Does anyone know which font style, if either, was shown in the original
>run
>> >of
>> >the movie?
>> The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
>> Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
>> trying to discover......
>>
>> [SK likes san serif, modern typefaces, helvetica and all its cousins
>> included.....]
>>
>So, i.e., neither the LD or the VHS typeface is the original, then? Or did
>I miss the boat? :)
I seem to recall the latest digital dupe from the new print pulled by SK for
Turner had all the original cards. Anything which is not in that san serif
font has been added to the print.
Peter Gahan
In article <geoffrey....@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us>,
geof...@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us (geoffrey alexander) wrote:
> >> The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
> >> Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
> >> trying to discover......
> >>
> >> [SK likes san serif, modern typefaces, helvetica and all its cousins
> >> included.....]
> >>
> >So, i.e., neither the LD or the VHS typeface is the original, then? Or did
> >I miss the boat? :)
>
>
> I seem to recall the latest digital dupe from the new print pulled by SK for
> Turner had all the original cards. Anything which is not in that san serif
> font has been added to the print.
>
> --
> Geoffrey Alexander
> The Kubrick Site @ http://beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us/~tks
I must be a bit dim about this. Where are the fonts you are talking
about? On the movie print? or on the publicity material issued with the
varius formats?
I think it is an interesting question, because I have long been wondering
why, as I remember it, the font for "The Dawn of Man" title (not a sans
serif typeface!) on the movie print is different from the other font which
is used for the titles, the other super'd titles along the way, and the
credits.
I have always assumed (and have possibly read somewhere) that the later
super'd titles were put on at a very late stage (when the narration was
jettisoned?), but perhaps the "Dawn of Man" title had been done earlier.
Can anyone explain THIS font anomaly?
PETER
Daniel Booth
In article <geoffrey....@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us>,
geof...@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us (geoffrey alexander) wrote:
> "Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
>
> >My NTSC VHS widescreen edition of "2001: A Space Odyssey" has the OVERTURE,
> >ENTR'ACTE, EXIT MUSIC, etc., in a roman-style font. Silvery-white letters
> >against a black background, nothing else. Really striking.
>
> >My NTSC LaserDisc widescreen edition has the same titles, but the font is
> >that cheesy "computer" type font (like the account and routing numbers on
> >checks)
> >in blue lettering with still graphics in the background. I don't find this
> >nearly as striking as my VHS tape.
>
> >Does anyone know which font style, if either, was shown in the original run
> >of
> >the movie?
> The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
> Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
> trying to discover......
Do you really mean to say there was a theatrical print containing the
titles "Overture", Entr'acte", and "Exit Music"? I find that hard to
believe. Back in the days of real roadshows, nobody in the theatre needed
to be told what was going on.
Anyway, they sure weren't on the print at the good old Warner Cinerama
Theatre in Pittsburgh.
Dan
J'ai la fiŠvre Villeneuve
Daniel Booth (da...@cornell.edu) wrote:
: > "Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
: > >My NTSC VHS widescreen edition of "2001: A Space Odyssey" has the OVERTURE,
: > >ENTR'ACTE, EXIT MUSIC, etc., in a roman-style font. Silvery-white letters
: > >against a black background, nothing else. Really striking.
: Do you really mean to say there was a theatrical print containing the
: titles "Overture", Entr'acte", and "Exit Music"? I find that hard to
: believe. Back in the days of real roadshows, nobody in the theatre needed
: to be told what was going on.
I agree. The prints I'm familiar with (including a very pink one) have no
captions for the extended musical interludes. I much prefer it that way,
and always sit through the exit music, which elicits dirty looks from
theatre staffers.
(Never seen _Spartacus_ on film, I assume the same case for that one?)
---
David Meir Cieplinski
dcie...@is2.dal.ca
geoffrey alexander
da...@cornell.edu (Daniel Booth) writes:
>In article <geoffrey....@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us>,
>geof...@beethoven.iavalley.cc.ia.us (geoffrey alexander) wrote:
>> "Thomas F. Henriksen" <henr...@nospam.clinton.net> writes:
>>
>> >My NTSC VHS widescreen edition of "2001: A Space Odyssey" has the OVERTURE,
>> >ENTR'ACTE, EXIT MUSIC, etc., in a roman-style font. Silvery-white letters
>> >against a black background, nothing else. Really striking.
>>
>> >My NTSC LaserDisc widescreen edition has the same titles, but the font is
>> >that cheesy "computer" type font (like the account and routing numbers on
>> >checks)
>> >in blue lettering with still graphics in the background. I don't find this
>> >nearly as striking as my VHS tape.
>>
>> >Does anyone know which font style, if either, was shown in the original run
>> >of
>> >the movie?
>> The same typeface (not 'font', technically...) as the Title Card and the
>> Credits. A modern San Serif typeface on black, the exact spec I'm STILL
>> trying to discover......
>Do you really mean to say there was a theatrical print containing the
>titles "Overture", Entr'acte", and "Exit Music"? I find that hard to
>believe. Back in the days of real roadshows, nobody in the theatre needed
>to be told what was going on.
>Anyway, they sure weren't on the print at the good old Warner Cinerama
>Theatre in Pittsburgh.
NO no no no no. The only title card, other than the serif "The Dawn of Man"
super over a landscaped background, was the san serif Intermission card (cut
and/or faded to from the lipreading sequence to the sound of HAL's
breathin)g. The rest are inventions of the respective video dupes. The latest
digital dupe by Turner from the print SK himself pulled and corrected did
away with all the extraneous shit.
Peter Gahan
I'm glad you mentioned the serif title super "The Dawn of Man" which I
brought up in a post earlier in this thread that got dropped (how does
that happen? it seems to happen to most of my posts!). My question was:
why did SK use a serif font for just this one title? is it because it
could actualy be a sub-title for the whole film - rather than just a
chapter heading for the first (prehistoric) episode? funny wording when
you come to think of it. how DOES 'man' dawn?!
Geoffrey's remarks above are slightly confusing because of course there
are other supered titles introducing each of the major parts of the movie
except (because of editing reasons) for the change between pre-history and
the space age. [that is, 2 other san serif titles have been on all prints
of the film, the "18 months later" and "Jupiter and beyond the infinite."]
As for the "intermission" title I still feel, because I saw the movie so
many times in a theatre, there is something missing when it doesn't
appear. It really ranks with the cut from the bone to spaceship as the
most memorable piece of editing in the movie. Certainly, no movie has
ever used the intermission break so effectively. And now we don't get
it. Pity,... I think it, and the similar intermission title card from
Barry Lyndon should have been kept for all versions.
Peter
"No reviewer has ever illuminated any aspect of my work for
me," - Stanley Kubrick (1972)
Moby2001
>>funny wording when
you come to think of it. how DOES 'man' dawn?!<<
Unrelated trivia to the intent of this post, but I found it amusing that
Ensemble Studios' working title for their "Age of Empires" PC game was "The
Dawn of Man." Maybe they couldn't figure out how man "dawns" either. ;-)
Martel art
<<...I'm glad you mentioned the serif title super "The Dawn of Man" which I
brought up in a post earlier in this thread that got dropped (how does
that happen? it seems to happen to most of my posts!). My question was:
why did SK use a serif font for just this one title? is it because it
could actualy be a sub-title for the whole film - rather than just a
you come to think of it. how DOES 'man' dawn?!--Peter Gahan>>
Nice idea. Perhaps you missed my posts on the type--the sans serif is basically
a very thin weight of Futura, perhaps a variant from a british type house.
Manufacturers differ, type's been through a few technologies over the last 40
years. The serif font resembles greco-roman lettering, and thus would be a sort
of dawn of typography. Interestingly, sans serif fonts are almost a return to
that primal simplicity.
To match the 2001 look, note the letterspacing and centering, relationships
between mixed sizes etc.