Video Design

After watching “A Lover’s Tale”, the following analysis was made to assess the overall design. There is unity shown by the font type and the black background, which both remained the same throughout the entire length of the short film. Variety and size was seen in the font, as well as in font color. The movements of font were randomized according to the mood evoked by the content of the poem. The words to the poem generally move up to the screen and appear according to the rhythm at which a person would speak when reciting this poem; there was also rhythmic movement of the font accompanied by simple shapes – namely upward lines of circles to represent fireworks and snowflakes. At some points in the poem, the words rose and fell to and from the screen one by one, evoking the lover’s sense of dream-like fantasy in finally finding true love. The word “afterglow” also had a slight vibrating motion and the bright yellow, which seems to imply romance.

To emphasize emotion or important events in the poem, the proportion of the font was generally larger and brighter than the rest of the text, as seen in the phrase “in the afterglow”. This was also emphasized by color, as the words turned from olive green to marigold yellow. Generally, this video used bright colors against a black background, which were for two reasons: the poem was about a lover’s tale, and romance is usually associated with nighttime. A black background would require the use of bright font, but in addition, the lover’s tale took place in the city. The city is associated with bright neon colors through its electric signs, streetlights, and lights illuminating from high rise skyscrapers.

The typography was simple and contemporary, which would be the ideal choice for a story taking place in the city. The words of the poem were displayed line by line, again to match the pace at which the poem would be recited to a live audience. The lines of the poem were short, with simple, yet profound meaning, and the creator of this video made sure every line was well understood by being prudent with space usage. The font of each line of verse was displayed in only focused areas of the screen, leaving chunks of black in the background.