In many cases, the title is the first taste your audience gets of your entire film, which is why it's so important to get it right. This process can be pretty tricky and labor intensive, especially if they're animated, but if you have the right assets and a little creativity you're well on your way to designing something sexy. In this tutorial, Joshua Noel of SonDuck Film offers up not only a step-by-step guide on creating cinematic titles in After Effects but also a bunch of great tips that'll help you as you try it on your own. Check it out below:

So, maybe the title design from the video won't work for your specific project, but there are a bunch of great pieces of advice that you can pull from Noel's tutorial that will aid you as you create your own.

Title design

First things first: what should your titles look like? Well, what does your film look like? Is it a gritty crime drama? A quirky romantic comedy? A bloody slasher flick? You'll want to choose a design that is representative of your film, matching its tone, color scheme, and other important elements that show up in your film.

Assets

A good way to give your titles a little something special is to add plenty of texture. This means adding lens flares, particles, smoke, film burns, light leaks, and other assets that you think would not only look aesthetically pleasing but also link the titles to the rest of your film. It's really about creating an environment and establishing a tone, so, again, if your film is a gritty crime drama, then having some lens flares moving against a dark background might help you create that kind of mood. 

Motion

If you want to make your titles a little more interesting you should really consider adding some movement to not only the assets but the title itself. With just a few keyframes you can take some stationary text and turn them into something kinetic, dynamic, and honestly, a hell of a lot more interesting and fun to watch than mere letters on a screen. It doesn't have to be over-the-top; you can increase the size of your text by just a smidge to give it a subtle, yet compelling look that will hopefully leave a lasting impression on your audience.

What are some other helpful tips for creating interesting, cinematic titles? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: SonDuck Film

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Editing & Post-Production