PROJECT
main title design and additional graphics
STUDIO
Lionsgate
Summit
Shine designed and animated vintage studio film logos, main titles as well as other typography and graphics for La La Land.
Producer Fred Berger said, “I’ve had the privilege of working with Shine on three films already and will keep roping them into projects as long as they’ll continue to put up with me. Michael, Bob, and their team are, quite simply, exceptional. They are visionary artists, consummate professionals, passionate storytellers, and an utter joy to work with. Our most recent collaboration, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, demanded a delicate balance of old and new, while making a bold statement off the bat. Shine created a beautiful Summit logo, imagining what it might have looked like in the 40’s or 50’s, which immediately sets the tone and pulls us into the world of the film. But nothing makes me smile more than when audiences applaud as the striking golden main title card slams onto picture and fills the frame. They’re cheering for the opening musical number, but also for Shine’s brilliant work. And it’s well deserved.”
Classic Hollywood film typography is characterized by its elegance and boldness, often reflecting the glamour and grandeur of the Golden Age of Cinema. Fonts were meticulously crafted - often hand drawn - to capture the essence of the film's genre and era. Art Deco styles with their geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation were common in the 1930s and 1940s. Dramatic, sweeping scripts conveyed romance and drama, while blocky, sans-serif fonts were used for action and adventure films. The typography served not only as a title card but as an integral part of the movie's visual identity, setting the tone before a single frame of film was shown.
The Cinemascope film logo is iconic for its widescreen format, introduced in the 1950s to create an immersive viewing experience. Featuring a stylized, elongated typeface, the logo often appeared with dramatic, sweeping music. It symbolized innovation and the grandeur of epic storytelling, marking a significant technological advancement in film projection that enhanced visual impact and audience engagement in theaters.
The Shine team created a vintage-style Summit logo for La La Land, to look like a classic Hollywood logo animation. Many classic Hollywood film logos exude timeless elegance and grandeur. They feature distinctive, stylized fonts and often incorporate intricate design elements reflecting the film's genre. These logos set the tone for the cinematic experience, becoming iconic symbols of the studios' brand identity and the Golden Age of Hollywood's artistic and cultural impact.
