Kit·blog — Comments on “Woody Allen's typography”

Kit·blog Comments — iancu on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:19:10 +0200

Reply no.: 1. On 17 Dec 2007, 1:19 AM, iancu wrote: ]]>

I guess Woody applied the universal rule “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” :). He found one typo recipe that worked well with his movies and stuck to it.

Or maybe he thought that if someone one day will place all his films one next to the other, they should look like books from the same publishing house and author, bearing the same spine layout :)

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:51:42 +0200

Reply no.: 2. On 17 Dec 2007, 7:51 AM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Speaking of films as books, it’s interesting that the poster and the DVD cover are often designed in a way that has nothing to do with the movie’s title sequences. Woody Allen’s movies can epitomize this school of thought where the two are disjunct.

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Kit·blog Comments — Stefan on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:26:52 +0200

Reply no.: 3. On 22 Dec 2007, 5:26 PM, Stefan wrote: ]]>

This is one of the entries that I consider a reason enough to read this blog.
Just had to state this.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:46:16 +0200

Reply no.: 4. On 22 Dec 2007, 7:46 PM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Thank you, Stefan. This entry took months (and it’s not yet complete).

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Kit·blog Comments — itc_james on “Woody Allen's typography”

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:53:03 +0200

Reply no.: 5. On 18 Jan 2008, 6:53 PM, itc_james wrote: ]]>

I believe the title sequence issue is covered in the book “Woody on Woody”. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it, but here is what I can remember. 1) He was given a budget of let’s say $200,000 for title sequences. So, the less he spends on titles the more he can spend elsewhere or “make up”, if he was running over budget. 2) It was also an homage to the late great Ingmar Bergman who also used the same typeface repeatedly. Another homage, to Bergman, was the absence of music in Annie Hall. And remember, Woody wanted Bergman to appear in Annie Hall as the director in the theatre scene. However Bergman refused to leave Faro.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:18:52 +0200

Reply no.: 6. On 18 Jan 2008, 7:18 PM, Kit wrote: ]]>

These are excellent insights, James, thank you for sharing!

I knew about his utmost admiration for Bergman, but not the details you are mentioning here.

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Kit·blog Comments — Jason Tselentis on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:13:27 +0200

Reply no.: 7. On 19 Jan 2008, 2:13 AM, Jason Tselentis wrote: ]]>

I read something very very similar to this years ago: http://contactsheet.org/articles/woodys_typeface.html

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Kit·blog Comments — John Coulthart on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:34:17 +0200

Reply no.: 8. On 19 Jan 2008, 5:34 AM, John Coulthart wrote: ]]>

Michael Cimino also used white Windsor on black for (IIRC) The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate. Don’t have copies of his other films to hand to check those.

There’s a few other directors who do this with titles but they’re rarely so consistent across such a length of time as Woody Allen. Offhand the main one I can think of is John Carpenter. I haven’t seen a film of his for years but he used to favour white Albertus on black for his titles.

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Kit·blog Comments — Stephen Coles on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:51:36 +0200

Reply no.: 9. On 28 Jan 2008, 2:51 AM, Stephen Coles wrote: ]]>

As a FontShopper, I’m biased, but here’s a much better link to Windsor Elongated if you’re interested in actually seeing the glyphs in detail.

Woody and Windsor have also been discussed on Contact Sheet and Typographica.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:43:31 +0200

Reply no.: 10. On 28 Jan 2008, 9:43 AM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Thanks for the links, Stephen.

I have credited Scott Steffens’ Contact Sheet already—a few captures originate from there. The Tipographica thread doesn’t shed too much light into this, though (they’re more focused on Signs and Catch Me If You Can).

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Kit·blog Comments — mz on “Woody Allen's typography”

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:47:15 +0200

Reply no.: 11. On 30 Jan 2008, 8:47 PM, mz wrote: ]]>

26. Bullets Over Broadway (1994) complies.

[image supplied]

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:53:52 +0200

Reply no.: 12. On 30 Jan 2008, 9:53 PM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Thank you, MZ! Your image is posted.

I just bought the DVD in the weekend—along with Mere Anarchy, the book—got it on my table, still wrapped. Funny coincidence. I’m glad you sent it, nevertheless.

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Kit·blog Comments — mz on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:47:54 +0200

Reply no.: 13. On 31 Jan 2008, 12:47 AM, mz wrote: ]]>

no problem! it’s among the few movies of his that i still haven’t watched.

(and thanks for the compilation. great stuff!)

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Kit·blog Comments — gerald` on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:04:23 +0200

Reply no.: 14. On 31 Jan 2008, 2:04 AM, gerald` wrote: ]]>

the cover for “mere anarchy” depends on the edition and publisher; I’m at work at a bookstore and our covers are matte black, with Woody Allen in white, Mere Anarchy in orange (with the Y falling away from the rest of the word), and the whole thing in a lightweight modernist sans serif whose name I can’t remember

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Kit·blog Comments — Tim on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:37:36 +0200

Reply no.: 15. On 31 Jan 2008, 2:37 AM, Tim wrote: ]]>

Kit,

Speaking as both a Woody Allen & typography obsessive, great article! All of the missing films on your list comply with Woody’s use of Windsor. Actually I can’t speak for Cassandra’s Dream, as I haven’t seen it yet.

I’ve e-mailed you screen shots of the titles you’re still missing.

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Kit·blog Comments — Maza on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:48:31 +0200

Reply no.: 16. On 31 Jan 2008, 4:48 AM, Maza wrote: ]]>

Oh my god, YOU ARE SO WRONG. I’m sorry. No, it is not EF WINDSOR ELONGATED. It is EF WINDSOR LIGHT CONDENSED. Please compare the images of the titles credits you show and the previews availables at Fonts.com

I’m so right! Please, correct your entry. I almost spent 35 dollars at EF buying the wrong font!

Maza

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:46:46 +0200

Reply no.: 17. On 31 Jan 2008, 8:46 AM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Tim, you’ve made my day! I’ve inserted your seven screen-shots.

Thank you for your contribution.

And BTW, your photos are awesome.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:53:52 +0200

Reply no.: 18. On 31 Jan 2008, 8:53 AM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Gerald, regarding Mere Anarchy, it seems that the cover of the European edition differs from the American one.

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Kit·blog Comments — Bert Vanderveen on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:59:47 +0200

Reply no.: 19. On 31 Jan 2008, 10:59 AM, Bert Vanderveen wrote: ]]>

Wes Anderson is another director with a type fetish. He appears to be a big fan of Futura Bold and Black (ish). Even almost all graphics IN his films are set in those, eg packaging, signs, and so on.

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Kit·blog Comments — Jerry Zigmont on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:14:35 +0200

Reply no.: 20. On 31 Jan 2008, 2:14 PM, Jerry Zigmont wrote: ]]>

Interesting post…

If you are a die hard Woody fan and would like to get info on his jazz band, check out my website & blog
http://www.jerryzigmont.com

Thanks!

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Kit·blog Comments — Stephanea on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:53:12 +0200

Reply no.: 21. On 31 Jan 2008, 2:53 PM, Stephanea wrote: ]]>

Very usefull post. As a Woody allen fan, I have always loved the sentiment of unity given by its titles.

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Kit·blog Comments — tim on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:24:06 +0200

Reply no.: 22. On 31 Jan 2008, 4:24 PM, tim wrote: ]]>

It’s a terrific example of how a film’s tone can be set by aspects that are almost universally-overlooked by critics and scholars.

In my perfect world, there’d be an Academy Award for typesetting or type-writing. There was, actually, such an award in the first two years of the Oscars — but as “talkies” replaced the silent film, the need to recognize those who engineered visual text production faded as well.

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Kit·blog Comments — Tom Ross on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:50:12 +0200

Reply no.: 23. On 31 Jan 2008, 7:50 PM, Tom Ross wrote: ]]>

I have to second Maza. The font you link to is not the font found in your screen captures of Woody Allen’s movies.

Just take Annie Hall and compare the A, the H and the a. They’re all different.

a: Woody has a drop, Elongated doesn’t
A: Woody’s horizontal bar is quite centered, Elongated has it rather low
H: Woody’s horizontal bar is rather high, while Elongated’s is centered

The font Woody Allen used does indeed look more like Light Condensed.

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Kit·blog Comments — Tom Ross on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:55:41 +0200

Reply no.: 24. On 31 Jan 2008, 7:55 PM, Tom Ross wrote: ]]>

Sorry, I meant to say:

a: Woody doesn’t have a drop, but Elongated does.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:35:20 +0200

Reply no.: 25. On 31 Jan 2008, 8:35 PM, Kit wrote: ]]>

There’s an old Romanian saying that—loosely translated—goes like this: When a person tells you that you’re drunk, ignore it. When two persons warn you that you’re drunk, you better go to bed.

So Maza, Tom Ross, I guess I have to admit that you may be right. It looks more like Light Condensed, indeed.

Still, some of the titles are set in a visibly heavier weight—just look at Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose of Cairo or Hannah and Her Sisters—I doubt it can be an off-the-shelf Light Condensed.

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Kit·blog Comments — pnk on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:03:47 +0200

Reply no.: 26. On 31 Jan 2008, 9:03 PM, pnk wrote: ]]>

I saw the trailer for Cassandra’s Dream this weekend, and if that’s any kind of useful indication it looks to me like W.A.’s changed direction for his next film. I can’t say for certain, but I remember thinking it looked like Myriad in the titles, which seemed sort of shocking!

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Kit·blog Comments — Finazio on “Woody Allen's typography”

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:19:27 +0200

Reply no.: 27. On 31 Jan 2008, 10:19 PM, Finazio wrote: ]]>

Real great!

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Kit·blog Comments — ilan on “Woody Allen's typography”

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:40:56 +0200

Reply no.: 28. On 1 Feb 2008, 1:40 AM, ilan wrote: ]]>

brilliant!
thanks

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Kit·blog Comments — Francis on “Woody Allen's typography”

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:21:20 +0200

Reply no.: 29. On 1 Feb 2008, 11:21 PM, Francis wrote: ]]>

“Don’t Drink the Water” is strangely sloppy — the apostrophe isn’t curvy (compare to the apostrophe in “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy”), and the spacing around the apostrophe is far too wide.

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Kit·blog Comments — Soojin Lee on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:03:56 +0200

Reply no.: 30. On 2 Feb 2008, 8:03 AM, Soojin Lee wrote: ]]>

Whenever I watch a Woody Allen film I’ve never seen before, the opening credits serve as Pavlovian conditioning for me. I see the white Windsor-EF Elongated and a warm smile embraces my being, for I know that the next 100 minutes of my life will be enraptured by a dialogue between my two favourite Allen characters: wit and heart.

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Kit·blog Comments — Mark Simonson on “Woody Allen's typography”

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:33:14 +0200

Reply no.: 31. On 3 Feb 2008, 6:33 PM, Mark Simonson wrote: ]]>

It’s definitely Windsor Light Condensed, not Elongated. The variations in weight in the titles are most likely due either to differences in exposure or the use of different versions of Windsor Light Condensed.

Places like Photo-Lettering Inc. in NYC (where Ed Benguiat created hundreds of typeface designs) often offered finely graded weightings of popular designs. So, if you wanted something like Windsor Light Condensed, but a little bolder or a little lighter, you could get it. Even with the tens of thousands of digital fonts available today, there are whole libraries of fonts that have never been digitized. Just because all we have today is a handful of Windsor fonts doesn’t mean that’s all there has ever been.

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Kit·blog Comments — Tony on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:08:25 +0200

Reply no.: 32. On 4 Feb 2008, 9:08 PM, Tony wrote: ]]>

This is a wonderful discovery. You’ve done quite a bit of legwork on this piece of trivia.

This is really neat. Thanks.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kit on “Woody Allen's typography”

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:38:50 +0200

Reply no.: 33. On 4 Feb 2008, 10:38 PM, Kit wrote: ]]>

Thank you for taking the time to comment and to spread the word.

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Kit·blog Comments — Kyle Meyer on “Woody Allen's typography”

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:38:46 +0200

Reply no.: 34. On 8 Feb 2008, 7:38 PM, Kyle Meyer wrote: ]]>

A modern example of this would be Wes Anderson’s obsession with yellow Futura.

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