“ As a powerful storytelling device, motion can be choreographed to communicate information, convey emotions, and express pure aesthetic beauty.” – Jon Krasner 

Krasner’s quote can be expressed as the idea that motion design can convey and deliver the most engaging and profound ideas even with the most ordinary shapes and graphics. 

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Motion design is predominately utilised to portray and set the scene. Primary motion, secondary motion and temporal considerations are methods utilised to efficiently announce the opening ambience of the film.

Stranger Things (2016), Altered States (1980), and The Deadzone (1983) each have highly comparable opening typographic sequences. Considering the similarities between these three title sequences, we can see how they were influenced by prior methods and the aesthetics of the time period in which they were created. 

‘Stranger Things,’ a Netflix original series, is full of subtle references and not-so-subtle parodies to some of the most renowned films of the 1980s. The Tv series is a classic example of motion design, notably its entrance scene. Many of the visuals and typography were significantly influenced by Richard Greenberg’s motion design, the particularly Altered States and The Dead Zone.  Echoing the tone and form of both opening sequences for genre classics Altered States and The Dead Zone, Stranger Things delivers a “shot of pure nostalgia”. The typeface ‘Benguiat’ chosen by Michelle Dougherty for this opening scene is also a nod to Stephen King’s ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ series from the early 1980s. Michelle Dougherty employs a blend of mostly primary motion to enhance the film’s realism. Dougherty and her design team developed the opening scene to have an ominous and spooky sense that corresponds brilliantly with the series. This is evident through the use of “Large, hollow type drifts through a void, slowly assembling, its glowing red edges cutting through the darkness as smaller credits fade in and out.” This technique produces an apocalyptic mood, which can also be observed in Richard Greenberg’s title sequences, Altered States and The Dead Zone. Dougherty explains within her interview that her inspiration for the bold hidden lettering came from deep research of 1980s film techniques. 

Watch this youtube video to delve further into understanding how Michelle Dougherty brought the Stranger Things title sequence to life. 

Although the jittery title sequence can be found in all of the titles, the usage of primary motion is more prominent in the Stranger Things title. The lettering on the screen continues to form, following a linear route in multiple directions. 

Altered States opens with an unnerving sight of a man in a tank, accompanied by disturbing music. The camera’s secondary motion is fixed, while the man’s primary motion is making little, panicked jerks. The lettering’s primary motion then begins to span the screen from side to side. The letters are wide and occupy the screen with low opacity, allowing you to see the man through the san serif typeface. 

The Dead Zone’s final viewing is comparable to Altered States in that fragmented text is put on top of a film frame. In this scenario, the black shards start out as little, unidentified forms. As the backdrop scene changes, more forms gradually appear, building on the negative space to reveal the film’s title at the conclusion. The Helvetica letters are then zoomed out to accentuate the title. This idea of a zoom motion within both title sequences – Dead Zone and Altered States – helps engage the audience in the sequence. Toward the end of the title sequences, this secondary motion exposes the whole logotype.
The temporal discrepancy between the title sequences of Dead Zone and Stranger Things is significant. Because the title sequence in Dead Zone is nearly 3 minutes long, Michelle Dougherty adds that when the team began developing the Stranger Things sequence, 45 seconds was deemed a “sweet spot” (Landekic & Perkins, 2016). Both of the opposing scenes have a feeling of fear, but Dead Zone has a stronger sense of fear.