When Fred asked me to think about a place or experience that embodied some of the key elements involved in creating film titles, a few places sprung to mind. But none seemed quite as compelling as the airport.

The three main things I focus on when I start a project are: choreography, typography, and telling a good story (which is largely dependent on the previous two things in my line of work). Upon thinking about this assignment, I realized that the airport is chock full of all three. Not to mention, it's an intriguing place to observe how they all come together in a highly staged narrative experience with literal steps that must be taken—which is remarkably relevant to the kind of timing and delivery moments that are so critical to the kind of work we do.

Choreography. Super important. Can't say it enough. It sets the pacing of the title, and that's what draws someone in to, hopefully, stick with you for the rest of the movie. When we make titles, we often have to hint at back story or some piece of the narrative that needs to be told. Story is crucial but choreography is what makes it engaging.

Now, the airport. Talk about choreographed. There's no place I can think of that requires more arranging and coordination than this. The anticipation and build start before you even leave your house. And getting there is it's own mini-story. But the real challenge involves things like planes landing and taking off on time, people making connections (or not), the experience of checking in, and the dance we all do in the security line, barefoot and flustered, trying to find our lip gloss and laptops. Then there are the happy accidents of bumping into old friends. All together, it's a rich interplay of choreographed experience.

Typography is another key aspect, both in film titles and in airports. In the case of the latter, it may not be elegant or dramatic, but then, that's not its job. Signage at the airport must be very clear because it needs to speak to people who hail from so many different places. Things need to be instantly recognizable. Time is of the essence. Well, it's much the same in film. A director will come to us and ask us to hint at or reference pieces of a narrative to get a certain feeling across, to create context, set a tone, and take the audience somewhere. In creating film titles, type becomes a main character—whether it's lives within the live action plate or a graphic element that takes you on a journey and tells part of the story. As in the airport, the type needs to do it's job. The director or cinematographers' names need to be legible. Signage leads you down a specific path through an airport, and you follow that path—but it's the human interplay all around you that piques your interest. Which leads us to...

Telling a good story. Striking just the right balance between hinting at the story and giving it away is also a big part of what we do. We have a very small window to give a glimpse and get people intrigued and to evoke an emotion. Not unlike overhearing snippets of a conversation at the gate that pull you in and get you wondering who these people are and how they know each other. Those three men in army fatigues—where are they going?. Or the crying man as his daughter arrives…or is that his girlfriend. Who knows…this is Los Angeles. Or almost anyone in first class that you walk by on your way back to coach—well, who are you anyway, Mr. 2B or Ms. Champagne-before-you-take-off? But I digress.

Fact is, there are a lot of similarities between creating a film title and spending time in an airport. Both are highly staged environments. Both require things happening in a very specific order to proceed to the next stop along the way. And all the while, you are colliding (sometimes literally) with fragments of other people's stories. Just a glimpse—but enough to spark your interest.