Creative Assignment #1 - Chiller Daredevil

While I consider myself somewhat adept at helming video projects together as a writer, director, cinematographer, camera operator, and in other on set production capacities, my ability to handle editing/post production work is considerably hindered due to my lack of experience in those roles. My limited access to high quality soft/hardware in the past made this process difficult today - this includes graphic design and font selection for title cards and thumbnails.

After learning the concepts of Concordant and Contrasting font design, I selected a thumbnail I created for an Advanced Video Production class film; a scene recreation from Marvel’s Daredevil (A show I have already mentioned on this eportfolio once before in my previous blog post). In this original thumbnail, along with the logo from the official series, I used the “Chiller” font for the text that I had created - colored in red and outlined in burgundy. It is a miscellaneous font that is a bit cartoonish in terms of style, and is farm-fresh in terms of modern fonts created for most online licensing, but it strikes a similar vibe to Daredevil’s opening titles - where every New York symbol is born out of literal bloodshed. There is a similar comic style to the font they used for the Daredevil text that makes the match between the two complimentary. Both are sans-serif, which makes their match even better - but both are still fairly legible. The fonts in tandem communicate a touch of grittiness against the symmetrical and clean backdrop, reflecting the nature of the show for which the project is connected to in a contrasting way.

In my redesign, I chose a miscellaneous font made by an amateur online typographer, based on the font created for the film adaptation of Daredevil that predates the Marvel Netflix series I typically reference. This “Daredevil 03” font, when compared to the use of “Chiller”, arguably crosses the line in terms of what would be described as contrasting instead of conflicting. It is a font that is a hybrid between serif and sans serif, since it’s sharp points on certain letters act as partial serifs. Its straight edge style wants to be on the cutting edge of modern typeface, but feels permanently stuck in retro like “bauhaus”, thoroughly reflecting the early 2000’s period it originates in. While “Daredevil 03” is more straight edge when compared to the current, curvy counterpart from the Netflix series, they both are more legible as a whole when compared to the combination with the “Chiller” font due to their thickness and color. I believe that this font is actually more successful at communicating the grunge and off-balance feel that reflects the tension between the characters in the scene.

In terms of my design process, I wanted both fonts to frame the top and bottom of the background - keeping the characters and the Daredevil logo at the heart of the frame. I also wanted the words to fit neatly within the background composition. In both cases, the CRAP method gives the “Chiller” and “Daredevil 03” a good balance between standing out and blending in; they have more than enough contrast from the official Daredevil logo to add variety, the colors, typeface shapes, and spatial relations/kerning makes for great repetition, and both the alignment and proximity of the text from top to bottom and left to right fits in well with the background shot’s vertical and horizontal lines - such as the “from” being framed not only by the TV but by Matt and Karen on opposite sides of the table, and the Daredevil logo being closer to the season/episode designation than the “scene recreation” title at the top. I’m fortunate this class and this assignment made me rethink my font choices when I first created the thumbnail, as I ended up using the redesign for the official upload on my channel.

To view it, you can click the links below, or check it out along with the other works in my filmography on this site!

https://youtu.be/ABLwPqKnyNo

Helvetica Documentary Reflection - Simply Complicated

As an online content creator of stop-motion animation and live action films, I like to consider myself something of an artist - embracing visual mediums to engage in communicating creative expression. In the movie world, there is a divide between traditional/classic filmmaking and more mainstream/blockbuster franchise filmmaking, and what dictates creativity in the medium is equally divisive. Watching Helvetica has made me realize that not only is typography itself an art form, but it too has a similar debate between artists within it.

The documentary features a number of professional artists who have been involved in the typography industry for many years, contributing different work to it over that time. Similar to how college students have majors that indicate their intended career path in life, this is theirs - they live and breathe this profession in the same way we live in breathe our own. Their passion for their craft really makes us care about their opinions on the happenings in their field, since their work is ever present in everyone’s day to day surroundings - mostly in how various fonts are used to build the infrastructure of our cities, and how they are implemented to advertise different products or services to us. When all of these artists have a different stance on the Helvetica font in particular, we are curious as to why it matters so much - especially since it is described in the documentary itself by several testimonials as being “neutral” in terms of design.

Similar to the debate on what defines “cinema” in the film world, there is a debate as to what Helvetica as a font stands for - but the typography fight would have a greater presence in the everyday life of people than film would, since people are constantly exposed to fonts without even realizing it. Some of the typographers of the world think Helvetica font represents the modern era’s conforming to standardized, machinery-based typeface, while others claim that it embodies elements of artistic freedom despite its surface level simplicity. Some even argue that it is more a matter of practical concern, that Helvetica is a font which embraces legibility in a way that more abstract fonts often fail to do - even though it typically lacks serifs that were typically utilized for easier reading.

In any case, the documentary is able to provide us these largely differing formats in a clear manner by splitting the documentary narrative roughly in half - the first putting a positive spotlight on Helvetica by featuring its advocates, and the second shedding light on the negative implications and associations the font has while featuring its biggest critics. The documentary not only implies how big of a deal this otherwise trivial conflict is to these people, but it provides us, outside observers, more than enough context to come to our own conclusions.

I personally really enjoyed seeing all of the establishing shots in cities across the globe - specifically on the subway signs in NYC and the street signs in Switzerland (the home of the Helvetica font) - emphasizing just how ingrained the Helvetica font truly is in our cultures and that this debate actually does have implications outside the typography realm. My favorite shots/sequence of shots was the title sequence showing the handiwork involved in printing words using ink and metal cast letters to form a title card. Like Helvetica as a font, the final result is simple, but there are so many more complex layers to it than what is on the surface.

Visual Analysis - Dare to Save (2X) Daredevil

Before I begin to analyze this image you are looking at thoroughly, I wanted to provide some background context to it - specifically, this image has been edited from its original version. The first version was a promotional poster for the second season of Netflix and Marvel’s Daredevil, created for a 2016 Emmy award nomination campaign featuring the tagline “Dare to Consider.” What you are looking at now has been edited by a friend of mine as part of the #SaveDaredevil fan campaign, which hopes to bring the show back from being unceremoniously cancelled in 2018 by Netflix.

With this in mind, seeing this image brings a combined sensation of joy and pain for me. Daredevil is my favorite superhero, my favorite show, and my favorite screen property in the entire MCU. I’ve been a loyal fan of the show’s characters, actors, stories, and filmmaking since seeing it begin in 2015 (almost 5 years ago). Throughout that time, it inspired me to be a better content creator (filmmaker/writer) as well as a better performer (actor/voice actor), and it helped me overcome difficult days in my life as an entertaining escape - so learning the news of it ending only after 3 seasons genuinely broke my heart. All of this info resurfaces to my mind when I look at this poster, along with a feeling of hope that the campaign it promotes will succeed in its mission.

An inventory of this image would be rather simple. The photo underneath is an extreme close up of Charlie Cox in full Daredevil attire - a red and black plastic mask with horns, and a suit of plastic texture - looking directly at the camera (which is unusual considering Daredevil’s character is actually blind.) Behind him is a burgundy backdrop matching the color of his costume. Aside from that, the white text saying, “Dare to Consider,” and the #savedaredevil campaign logo were added over top of the photographed image. However, an analysis of the historical and cultural connections both versions of this image have, and its technical transformation from the original to this new edition add more significance to it.

Both editions of this image were created for the purpose of PR for event campaigns: the original image highlighted the official creative team’s Emmy campaign, while this iteration focuses on the fan-ran initiative for reviving the show from the chopping block. Because this image was repurposed, this photo of Charlie Cox is now synonymous with celebrating the success of the show and raising awareness for how underappreciated it is by the corporate world.

Additionally, editing this poster would, like the image itself, be rather simple. After finding the original photo of Daredevil actor Charlie Cox in full costume used for this poster without the show branding and “Dare to Consider” text, all that would have to be done is find the “Dare to Consider” font to keep this new image consistent with its original source, write the “Dare to Save” message in place of the old one, and plop the Save Daredevil logo at the bottom. Unfortunately, the original photo was never released to the public. In order to create the new image, the “Dare to Consider” text not only had to be photoshopped out, but the mask underneath it had to be digitally reconstructed using colors and textures from reference images. This kind of editing work takes a lot of time and precision in order to perfect, and I commend my friend for doing such a clean job with it.

Factoring those other elements back into my own personal attachment to this image only enhances my appreciation for it more. It may be simplistic in terms of its composition, but the profound impact it has on its target audience - including me - makes it stand out from some of the more complex promotional content created throughout the show’s extensive marketing work. For viewers of the image beyond that intended demographic, the message still remains clear: “Dare to Consider” whether or not they can help #SaveDaredevil.

(The original image from 2016 for context is below.)

***UPDATE: This image was officially shared/endorsed by the #SaveDaredevil campaign***

(See image below)