The 22nd Ansible Co., Ltd.

2012.01.17

Ansible Title, Inc. is a post production company that creates titles for many movies and trailers.

Mr. Tsuda, the representative, has been active in the movie industry for about 30 years since the film era before becoming digital, shooting animations using cameras, shooting special composition materials, and creating titles. Founded in 2006, Ansible Title is a specialized company that specializes in titles such as subtitles and end rolls from among the many jobs involved in the movie.

This time, Mr. Tsuda, who makes the movie more attractive and effective with "character production" by subtitles, asked about how to use fonts during subtitle production.

How to make subtitle telop

Speaking of movie subtitles, you can imagine a foreign movie with a Japanese translation, but it doesn't show the Japanese translation of the dialogue as it is. Of course, at first, it is a direct translation, but the dialogue will be adjusted according to the scene of the movie and the display time. In other words, it's a special translation for subtitles. Since the number of characters that can be displayed on the screen at a time is fixed, the parts that can be seen by looking at the Video and the parts that can be omitted are adjusted to make it easier to understand.

Based on the material that shows the display time, the translation for the subtitles made in that way will be adjusted to the screen. For the ansible title, use Adobe Illustrator to complete the character display and layout, and use the image editing software to create a movie title. The reason why I use Adobe Illustrator is that the typeface is the easiest to handle and it is easy to wake up on the screen.

Select a subtitle typeface with "Director's thoughts" and "Movie content"

When choosing a subtitle or end-roll typeface, meet and talk directly with the producer or director. I would like to make a proposal for the typeface after grasping what kind of thoughts I have about letters. If you are a particular director, you may be asked to specify a “pretty typeface” or “precious typeface” or a specific typeface name.

Also, there are directors who are said to have no idea about the typeface, so at that time, bring out all kinds of documents such as clippings of magazines, posters of the past, etc. In some cases, you may want to suggest something that matches your image. It depends on the director.

Consider the design of each typeface for the production of letters

Although it is a Japanese movie work that I am currently working on, there is a scene where the main character interacts with foreigners, and there is also work to add subtitles to that scene. For this work, I'm using a recent favorite typeface [Tsukushi A MaruGothic]. This [Tsukushi A MaruGothic] is used with the tracking set to "minus 50". This is because if you type it in a solid way, it will tend to open the spaces between letters, making it difficult to capture a single word or sentence on the screen. Actually, I would like to squeeze in a little more, but I think that the design of this character does not live. I want to display them clearly while considering the characteristics of each typeface.

People unknowingly read the space between letters when there are gaps between letters. If you are worried about the gaps between meaningless characters in a short display time, you can not concentrate on the contents of the movie. On the other hand, depending on the scene, there may be half-width or full-width spaces that are read intentionally. In other words, in that sense, it can be said that the work of making subtitles also directs more effective characters to the movie. By arranging in a rhythm even in the last end roll, we are devising so that viewers do not get tired.

I want to use new fonts quickly

I'm really looking forward to seeing new fonts every year in Fontworks LETS. Not only I, but also those who have many choices when deciding the typeface with the movie director will be pleased. When a new typeface comes out, I think it's used relatively quickly. I want to use fonts that people haven't used yet. So, of course, not only "Fontworks LETS" but also "LETS" such as "Iwata LETS" were released and started early.

As expected, the New Cinema font is easy to use!

Recently, some manufacturers have created subtitle typefaces. Still, I think Hideo Sato's [New Cinema] is the most supported. Before this [New Cinema] entered "LETS," I used to use handwritten subtitled fonts, including Mr. Sato, in Japanese films and commercials, so when I joined "Fontworks LETS" To be honest, I was surprised and thought that I could finally use it for the movie. Originally, movie subtitles are filled with characters and displayed, and it takes time to fill them, but [New Cinema] created for movie subtitles is truly made by big veterans. As expected it is real! Just put in the serif without doing anything and it will look solid and well-packed. It's very easy to use, unlike other subtitle typefaces, and it saves a lot of work time. Besides, it's hard for people who watch movies to read sentences for two hours. In that respect, I think it is designed so that the reader is not stressed.

You can use your favorite typeface with confidence

Before I started using "LETS," I was honestly worried about licensing the typeface. Even though I properly purchased and used the Packaging, there were many things I couldn't understand how far it was licensed ... Even if I read the notes, the license agreement was only vaguely written, so I had to make inquiries one by one. At the time, I paid royalties for each production, even if it was used only for movie trailers.

It's very helpful because you can use your favorite design from among the abundant typefaces of "LETS", and the license is clear. Many of the finished works will be exposed to more people on other media such as DVDs, and will leave my hand to manage the rights. Therefore, I can't bother with the finished work, so I can't work without a typeface with a high degree of freedom even if I make a DVD or use Video content for secondary use. I sometimes talk to the production staff, "Is it okay to use this typeface?", But I decided not to use a slightly confusing typeface. Because I'm not very familiar with rights, "LETS" is what makes me feel safe if I use this. It's not an advertisement, but everywhere I go, I'm saying it's safe because the license has been cleared. Because of that, I often see it on TV these days.

Telop Mincho would be helpful if there were more.

In "Fontworks LETS", there is a font [Telop Mincho] that has undergone special processing for the broadcasting industry. If there is a request to use [Mincho] for subtitles and end rolls of movies, the most suggestion is [Telop Mincho]. [Telop Mincho] is a design of [Tsukushi Mincho] so that horizontal lines and curves can be clearly seen on the screen, and it is a great typeface that is perfect for movies, which is very helpful. The subtitles are basically uniform Weight fonts, so it would be helpful to have more [Mincho] with thick horizontal lines. It would be nice if [Matisse] also has a font that has undergone processing such as thickening horizontal lines.

More specifically, [Telop Mincho] is too serious, so I want a cute font with a solid horizontal line for children and young women.

＜ Editor's note ＞
We asked about the telop production process by selecting the typeface for subtitles and end rolls, and filling in the characters to capture the features of the typeface. Re-recognizing that it is highly necessary that the license is clear, as well as the quality of the typeface, to be able to perform "character production" with confidence in an industry with complicated rights even after the production is completed. did. We will continue to work hard to provide a better font environment even for electronic media, which are in high demand in recent years, including movies and TV.