It’s been a long, long time since title sequences were made in camera, by optically projecting the titles frame by frame on film. It’s all digitally made now. Stranger Things, Netflix’s 80’s themed series has taken a cue from the 80’s not only on the content of the show, but also on how its titles were made.
The logo in the opening is not CGIed at all, it is actually shot in camera and then manipulated in a computer.
The initial typecast for the logo is ITC Benguiat, a popular typecase for 80’s paperback horror books (and for the FBI piracy warning for some videos). The logo was “printed” on Kodalith, a high contrast film and mounted in front of a camera. Then the team used a flashlight to illuminate the film. This really gave the lettering a textile and “imperfect” look. Just like the one you would get from optically making a title.
The film shot was disassembled by computer and rearranged to make the title. So, yea, maybe you can say that there is some software involved, but the core look is made in camera.
[How Stranger Things got its retro title sequence | Vox]
P.S. if you are into Stranger Things, you must check this 80’s inspired short horror film.
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