One of the many, many neat details about Netflix’s breakout summer series Stranger Things is the creepy cool opening title sequence, which perfectly manages to capture the feeling of the era. Now thanks to this video from Vox, which takes a closer look at the sequence, we know exactly how it was created.
To achieve the unique look, series creators the Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross Duffer) went to Imaginary Forces, the studio responsible for the opening credits to popular television shows such as Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Chuck, and Jessica Jones. In the initial discussions between Imaginary Forces and the Duffers, the brothers said they wanted to go for a similar style that the studio R/Greenberg Associates had done in the ’70s and ’80s for films such as Alien and The Dead Zone, among others. Additionally, they sent over a number of paperbacks of sci-fi and horror novels from the ’80s to study the typography used at the time.
After a few initial attempts at style and font, the Duffer Brothers eventually went with the typeface ITC Benguiat, which was popular in the ’80s for appearing on everything from Choose Your Own Adventure books to Paramount’s FBI piracy warning. (If you went to school for graphic design before the year 2000 — *cough* — you may have been forced to memorize it.)
Getting the animated sequence to that perfect gritty, glowing finished product was another story altogether, which involved a combination of digital animation and physical media. The process from conception to completion is really pretty fascinating for both typography nerds and anyone else interested in the behind-the-scenes details in television production.
(Via Vox Videos)
