Credits

Writers, actors, producers, directors – anyone who can – fights hard to receive well deserved credit. There are guidelines for who receives credit, what the credit is, and where the credit is placed. Did you ever notice that if credits are in the beginning of a show the director’s credit is last, and if the credits are at the back the director’s credit is first? Actors squabble over top billing. Single card vs. shared with other actors. Agents also negotiate over whether an actor receives an “and” credit, which distinguishes him or her from the rest of the cast. Writers and producers quarrel over which credit goes next to the director’s.  Writers negotiate their titles.   "Co-executive supervising producer"  "Executive creative consultant", "Supervising Script Story Editor", etc.   They're all writers sitting at the same table working on the same script.

And for all the battles over credits, no one seems to say anything about the size of the credits on the screen. This becomes an even greater issue in television now that there are no longer opening titles. Credits are slipped in and out of the body of the show, under dialogue and action. No longer are they in opening titles where there is nothing to shift your focus. And they can be placed in the middle of the screen instead of on the bottom like an afterthought.

A number of shows have credits so small and in such unreadable fonts that it’s nearly impossible to read them. LOST was one such show. Tiny, thin letters in white. And if they happened to occur over a scene at a beach then good luck. They completely disappeared. Seems to me it’s not fair to the people involved. It’s bad enough that closing credits are now ridiculously squeezed, but you can blame the networks for that. Undecipherable opening credits is a stylistic choice often made by the showrunner.

I understand there’s a certain amount of humility involved. Absolutely filling the screen with your name is a little much. The MASH credits were huge. I admit it was fun seeing my name so big, but that size was already established so I could enjoy it guilt-free.

But there’s plenty of middle ground. The letters don’t have to be that large if they’re in a font style that’s easily readable and a color that pops. (Yellow or bright white seems to work best.)  In fairness, a lot of shows do just that. 

I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request. After all, who really reads these things? Relatives. And unfortunately, they don’t have a union.