Sunday, 18 March 2012

ARE FRIENDS SELECTRIC?


I've always loved the UFO TV intro. Not just the cool pounding tuba [?] beat but also the real-time typing. I understand it was done on a IBM Selectric ball typewriter [Wiki]. Then the idea popped in my head [ouch!], what would a SWORD TV series intro look like along the same lines? [excuse the pun]. Now short of buying an IBM Selectric or finding an online Selectric simulator, typing new lines in the correct UFO font [Courier ?] and videoing the whole process, I've opted for the simpler route of using my trusty PC Paint. Eh voila! [backing music and moving type would be better but that's beyond me].
Can anyone improve on this?

1 comment:

  1. The font in question is Letter Gothic, all caps.

    That's got to be one of Barry Gray's jazziest compositions. I also always got a kick out of the way various alternate arrangements/tempos would be used over different episode credits. And the rapid-fire editing of the visuals makes this the most energetic of Anderson opening sequences...

    ...but who the hell thought it was a good idea to open with a shot of an alien having his contact lens taken out? It creeped me out royally as a child, and I can't watch it today without remembering how creepy it seemed back then!

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