Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
it is a camera negative shot with a large-format copy camera. Most titles for fi lm fi nish are still
handled in a rather traditional way. It is possible to create titles digitally and then perform a “fi lm
out,” that is to say, shoot the digital title onto negative fi lm one frame at a time. The digital process
does offer many advantages and makes many slow and diffi cult optical effects fast and easy, but it
is expensive and the overall look is not the same as shooting titles the time-honored way. This is
often true even on fi lms that are not cutting the negative, but being scanned for a digital intermediate.
It seems logical that if the entire fi lm is going through a digital phase, it makes more sense to do the
titles digitally. Yet many fi lms going to digital intermediate will still make liths, shoot the liths to
35 mm fi lm, and scan the fi lm to digital. Film titles simply have a “fi lm look.”
The fi rst step in making fi lm titles, after deciding on the look, the font, and overall design, is shooting
the liths. While the titles are shot on fi lm and not made digitally, the liths are usually made digitally.
The title art can be photographed directly onto graphic art fi lm, often Kodalith from Kodak,
but most graphic facilities laser print digitally produced fi les directly onto the lith fi lm.
Most fi lmmakers have their titles made at a title house or lab. The super low-budget “gorillas” sometimes
shoot them themselves. However, much of the process still requires working with a graphic
art house or printing shop.
If you choose to shoot your own fi lm titles, you still need to have a graphic house produce the lith
with the title letters clear and the surrounding area a dense black. It is very important that the blacks
be dense; a bright light should not be easily seen through the black fi lm.
Many people save money by putting several titles on a large sheet; one large sheet is less expensive
than several small ones. The titles can be cut apart or simply masked off with camera tape and black
construction paper.
The liths are fi lmed on black-and-white reversal or black-and-white negative fi lm. They are normally
fi lmed on an animation stand where critical lineup can be achieved. The stand must be equipped with
a light box for back lighting the lith. Exposure can be taken with a spot meter directly off the light
box before mounting the lith. Depending on the meter, it may be necessary to open one stop over
the reading. On meters set for 18 percent gray, open 1 to 1.5 stops. The lith is taped in place and the
area around the lith is masked off with black paper tape and black construction paper so that the only
sources of light in the room are the letters of the lith.
The low-budget “gorillas” often shoot the liths on a standard light box for viewing slides. A normal
16 mm or 35 mm camera is used on a tripod. Lineup is tricky, but if done correctly the fi nished title
is indistinguishable from a professionally produced title.
If the titles are shot on negative black-and-white fi lm and cut into the fi lm negative, the fi nal title
will be exactly what you see on the lith: white letters on a black fi eld. Or, the titles can be shot on
reversal black and white, which produces black letters on a white fi eld. A color can easily be added
to the white letters or white fi eld in color timing.
Superimposed Titles
Superimposing titles over picture is much more complicated. Even on fi lms that are A and B rolled
(see Appendix 8 on negative conforming), if the title is cut into one roll and picture into the other,
the end result will be picture in letters. It will be black letters over picture if the title was shot on
128