type and Typography

PLACED BOLDLY, LEGIBLY AND STYLISHLY IN the room.

Since the birth of filmmaking, text—whether it be in the form of intertitles, subtitles or credits–has long been used to support narration and film distribution. But text is also used to mark boundaries in film sequences: linguistic (subtitles), spatial (subtitles), temporal (opening and closing credits) and figurative-narrative (intertitles). For subtitles, the text is usually placed at the frame's edge, and for opening and closing credits, the text is placed in the foreground as it marks the temporal beginning and end. But what happens to this layout when text is brought into new visual mediums, such as 360 films or virtual reality experiences? Mediums with no image boundaries or static frames. Even though 360° films have temporal edges, the image moves according to the viewer's gaze, providing the illusion of a fully immersive view. For these kinds of mediums, subtitles are not necessarily fixed at the bottom. Text in films helps guide the viewer's gaze, the letters themselves are often one of the first elements viewers fix their gaze on since we are so used to using them to perceive new information. With VR films and mediums free of boundaries, however, the circumstances forming this relationship change. Are the dominant features that govern the relationship between the script and virtual reality different from that of the script-film image? Do cinematic conventions dominate this relationship or are there shifts? Since virtual reality in a cinematic context is seen as a further development of or competitor to  conventional cinematic formats, these questions must also address the development and changes in film scripts. What are new possibilities for writing for VR films and what are the continuations of existing features where they may cross over?

Up until a few years ago, opening credits were also the moment in the story where creators could experiment with writing free of other conventions. This, however, became a convention in itself since these sequences are moments where the film is allowed such "gimmicks." Numerous publications study these experimentations, highlighting the graphical achievements of opening credits designers, who succeed in combining type and image in interesting ways. Today it has become customary to no longer place simple titles, but to instead design the credits in greater detail with its own style, character and story.

In most feature films and documentaries, writing plays the role of visual assistant. Although Sherlock (BBC series GB 2010-) and Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Foster, USA 2006) are examples of conventional feature film and series formats, their innovative use of typography in the image hints at the possibilities to use text in a VR environment. Specifically that type acquires a spatial component in the frame that goes beyond a drop shadow.

Unlike the above examples, where standard monitor type belongs to the depicted reality, D3D and VR films rely much more on the separation of the image from the writing. A more realistic imitation of reality is promised, but what belongs to this reality is selected beforehand.

Most VR films showcase subtitles in one of two common methods. The first places the subtitles in the image's lower half, in front of the rest of the elements in the frame. For dialogue, depending on the perspective of the camera, the subtitles are often placed at the floor level below the speaker. For close-ups, the subtitles are placed below the face, as is typical in conventional film formats. If there is a voiceover, the subtitles are tripled, evenly spaced around the user at 120° intervals. In this way the viewer can read them no matter which direction he or she is facing. An alternative, positions the subtitles directly on the person who is speaking. This has the advantage of not only linking the speaker to the translation, but it also gives a viewing direction, which ensures that the viewer orientates himself/herself in the scene as the director intended.

Therefore, writing does plays an important role in VR films. In particular, at the beginning of the film, the title overlay can reassure the viewers whether or not they are looking in the right direction. Unlike conventional film where text directs the viewer's gaze on the surface, in VR films text can influence the direction of the viewer's gaze, especially if the text is important to comprehend. At the same time, VR film can also break away from this question of orientation. For example, if the titles are superimposed in all three 120° areas, the viewer may understand that for this film less gaze guidance is expected.

In VR film, the relationship between writing and image as a whole or complete composition, is rather rare because this relationship is looser. For positioning text on the surface (the "jumble of words and forms" described by Rancière (2005: 121)), a framework is needed to controls and regulate the references. This frame does not exist in VR film, it changes from a formerly graphical one to that of the apparatus (the HMD) or that of the format (shown at the beginning and/or end). Writing in the two-dimensional image creates structuring. But for VR film, writing becomes performative; text can make viewers physical move to read the elements as well as give visual cues about whether the viewer is correctly oriented for comprehending the story.

Temporality is one of the biggest text challenges in film. In many VR films, we noticed that the readability of longer intertitles differs significantly from those in conventional films. Longer blocks of text, especially those the beginning, generate unease in the audience because they cannot (yet) be sure they will have sufficient time perceive and fully read the text before the writing disappears again. Temporality brings a new dimension to writing. A general rule of thumb is that a standard viewer must be able to leisurely read the text twice, ensuring sufficent time for slower-reading viewers. However, a film can also define and break the rules for its audience. If writing disappears faster than expected, people will try to read it faster. In films like Man on Fire (Tony Scott, USA/UK 2004), when the subtitles are repeatedly animated, viewers also adapt quickly to the director's visual style. Because of the interactive possibilities, experiments with conventionalised writing insertions are rarer in VR films. Here, temporality is not only a challenge for readability, but also mobility to the user's field of vision. VR headsets have different resolutions and are prone to anti-aliasing, so letters that are too small and lines that are too long are difficult to read. In the examples analysed in the research project, a line length of up to five words was comfortable to read. If the lines were longer, it presented problems, especially in terms of spatiality where text was sometimes shown twice. The designer Volodymyr Kurbatov suggests using no more than 20 to 40 characters per line to ensure a pleasant reading experience in VR (cf. Kurbatov 2017).

As it is in silent films, text is primary used to communicate information. Since gaze control is still one of the most important issues within VR films, text will continue to support viewing orientation, but it can be used as a tool to further design elements within the VR film. But, in order to uncover its full potential, leading to new possibilities and conventions for storytelling in VR, text needs to both support and be freed from these tasks.Therefore, the most interesting applications of text within a VR film will be unique to the new medium itself and not necessarily applicable in the traditional cinematic field.

Literature

Kurbatov, Volodymyr: «10 Rules of Using Fonts in Virtual Reality», medium, 22.11.2017, online: https://medium.com/inborn-experience/10-rules-of-using-fonts-in-virtual-reality-da7b229cb5a1 (retrieved on 7.10.2019).

Rancière, Jacques (2005): Politik der Bilder, Zürich: Diaphanes.

The original article (in German Language) can be found here:  Schrift in der virtuellen Realität.