Project · 2018 · Motion Graphics, Typography, Title Sequence

Halloween Title Sequence

A typographic reimagining of the title sequence for John Carpenter's 1978 film Halloween, inspired by the graphic title design work of Saul Bass and Maurice Binder, animated to the original soundtrack.

That's the whole thing.

The site's sound is off. The narration still plays.

This reading didn't load. The transcript is below.

Read the transcript

In twenty eighteen, I rebuilt the title sequence from John Carpenter's nineteen seventy-eight film Halloween using only type. No images, no montage, just letterforms.

Saul Bass and Maurice Binder gave the modern film title its kinetic, graphic language. I wanted to work inside that tradition, to read it through a purely typographic lens.

The music was the real constraint. Every typographic event is locked to Carpenter's original score, so the sound doesn't accompany the visuals. It drives them. The letters hold the tension. They pace it. They carry the dread.

This is an homage to classic cinema's graphic design. Made in After Effects and Illustrator. The video and storyboards are on this page.

Narrated in my own cloned voice, generated with ElevenLabs v4.

Halloween Title Sequence — cover
Halloween Title Sequence · 2018

The overview, or the fuller process story.

I recreated the title sequence of John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween using typography alone. No imagery. No montage. Just letterforms, movement, and the original soundtrack.

I made this in 2018 at Parsons. The inspiration came from Saul Bass and Maurice Binder, two designers who set the kinetic, graphic language of the modern film title. I realized, studying their work, that letterforms carry as much tension as any image.

The constraint was absolute: no pictures, no representational content of any kind. Tension, pacing, and dread had to come from the movement and arrangement of type alone. I locked the timing to the music. The score does not accompany the piece, it structures it. Every typographic event follows where the music moves.

The tools were After Effects, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Draw App. The video, storyboards, and individual frames are on this page.

This was homage to classic cinema’s graphic design tradition, made through a purely typographic lens. The project asked what type alone can do to a viewer who already knows what is coming.

Project resources

Videos, downloads, and references

Videos

Title Sequence Video

Project gallery

Checkpoints from the making of the work.

Tools used

Adobe After EffectsAdobe IllustratorCorelDRAWDraw App

Collaborate

Interested in working together?

Design, technology, transformation — the inbox is open.