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Author Topic: Theatre Marquee fonts Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-02-2003 04:42 PM                        There's a feature I'd like to have in generating my WWW site that I've wanted for a long time. I'd like to be able to take text strings from a file and render them on an image that looks like a theatre marquee sign. Is there a commonly available font that is the same or very similar to the font used on the letters that are stuck onto theatre marquees for the names of the movies being shown? I know that some Regal theatres tend to use a different font than others for this for their marquee letters. Having this functionality would allow me to change the marquee in the header of my site without having to redo the image and rerasterize it. It would be cool to just change a text file and have the marquee image change when I run the program to regenerate the site. Does anyone know about the font, or know an easy way to do this from a Perl script or C program? I can generate the image -- I just need the font-related stuff.  |  IP: Logged Christopher Duvall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 500 From: Denver, CO Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-02-2003 05:36 PM                     The font I think you are looking for is called Broadway. I have seen variations of it but here what it looks like...  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-02-2003 06:06 PM                        FWIW, I've never seen a marquee font that looks anything like Broadway.  |  IP: Logged Christopher Duvall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 500 From: Denver, CO Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-02-2003 06:28 PM                     I have worked in quite a few REGAL sites on the East coast and they use the Broadway style font. However, it is only all caps. The sites here in Vegas use different ones since they were ACT III or UA except for the one I am in. We do not have an outside marquee or roadside.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-02-2003 08:12 PM                        This looks just like what Regal uses. Any ideas about the more traditional ones used for theatre marquees? In any case, is there an easy way to programatically (from, say, Perl or C) pull out bitmaps of the fonts from the TrueType font files (or vector descriptions, or whatever)? I don't know much about how fonts are stored. It's an area in which I've never ventured before.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-02-2003 10:25 PM                        Arial is the best font ever created. When I met Bobby Henderson in real life, he went on and on about how great Arial was. He talked of nothing else. I didn't believe him until I saw it and WOW Arial is AWESOME! Therefore I think all theaters and all outdoor signage of any kind should only use the Arial font. It the font created by God Hisself.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-02-2003 10:36 PM                        Evans, you'd probably be happy using Image::Magick.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-02-2003 11:09 PM                        So it supports any TrueType fonts that I have the file for? If that's the case, it'll make things pretty easy. I've used PerlMagick on several occasions to do image manipulation from Perl. That would be fabulous if it's that simple. I'll do some testing tomorrow. So, the only question remaining is other than Broadway for Regal theatres, what's a font that is like the marquee lettering used by most theatres on their marquees. The marquee image is going to be small and only have room for two or three rows of letters, so I'd prefer a font used on theatre marquees back in the days of single-screen and 2-plex theatres. I've been using "Impact" from Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator , but I'd like something that looks more like older marquee lettering than that. I'll not upset Bobby Henderson by using Trajan.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-02-2003 11:49 PM                        Try something like this: $image->Annotate(font=>'/path/to/fonts/broadway.ttf', pointsize=>40, fill=>'black', text=>$text);  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-03-2003 04:43 AM                        I'll bet that Joe's second favorite font is "Wingdings."  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-03-2003 09:45 AM                        Cool! That Annotate call is described on pages 140-141 of my "Programming Web Graphics with Perl and Gnu Software" O'Reilly book! Thanks! This may be far easier than I ever imagined, especially since the program that generates most of the HTML on my site is already in Perl (1793 lines of it)!  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 10-03-2003 11:46 AM                     In New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, every Regal Cinema that I have been to or driven past uses Broadway as the font for the sign. Three of these Regals also use Broadway for their marquee letters as well. That typeface makes it difficult to read film titles, especially if you're on a busy road. Broadway also is the font in use at the Multiplex Cinemas at Town Center Plaza, built by Regal in the late 90's and taken over by National Amusements 1 1/2 years ago. I'm surprised NA hasn't tried to install its own signs and its own lettering yet. Maybe it might have something to do with the local zoning board.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-03-2003 03:45 PM                        I know that the Broadway font isn't the best choice for readability. When I drive in front of a theatre that uses that font, I have to get much closer to the building to read the movie titles. I just looked through a big list of fonts and didn't see anything that looked much like a movie theatre marquee font. After getting rather disgusted at the difficulty of finding this information, I got an idea -- I did a WWW search on companies that sell replacable letters for marquee signs. It looks like there are Barnes, Broadway, Helvetica, and a compressed Univers font in common usage. I wish I'd thought of doing that yesterday. So I guess that answers my question. Now to start playing with coding that up... I liek the Barnes style since it has a 3D look. Now to find a ttf file for it or something like it...  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-03-2003 09:38 PM                     quote: I liek the Barnes style since it has a 3D look. Now to find a ttf file for it or something like it... You're gonna get frustrated trying to find one. Wagner Zip Change and Gemini make the prevailing majority of changeable copy letters for marquees. They have been using the same gothic/sans and "modern" styles for decades. They have made no moves to generate computerized versions of these fonts. Such a move would help sign designers, and actually sell more of Wagner and Gemini's products. Instead, when I design a changeable copy sign for someone, I have to defer to something like Futura Extra Black Condensed to simulate the type. quote: I have worked in quite a few REGAL sites on the East coast and they use the Broadway style font. Are you sure you're seeing Broadway? Cinemark uses a font that has some slight similarities to Broadway for their changeable copy marquee lettering. However the font is more condensed and (thankfully) the thin stems on the letters are substantial enough to read at a significant distance. Broadway is not designed at all for readability distance. It is designed after type meant for large posters and showcards on easels that people can view up close and for what ever duration they like. Setting type in Broadway for an outdoor sign, particularly one next to a street, is really really stupid. There's lots of other fonts that envoke retro, art deco and art nouveau themes that work much better for distance/quick glance viewing. quote: When I met Bobby Henderson in real life, he went on and on about how great Arial was. What I really said was how Arial was really great at trapping amateur sign designers and making their work look stupid. Customers then bring their money to me! CHA-CHING! quote: I'll not upset Bobby Henderson by using Trajan. Not to worry. Hollywood studios would never allow and Zip Change or Pronto letters to be made with it. The letters would upstage all the Trajan you see on the one-sheets. Can't have that! [ 10-04-2003, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: Bobby Henderson ]  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-03-2003 09:59 PM                        Wingdings kicks ass.  |  IP: Logged

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