Character 4: 26 LETTERS A SECOND July 21, 2007

Character 4 is centred on the intersection between graphic design and film-making.

To mark this evolution, Character 4 will be hosting the Australian Premiere of Helvetica — the first feature length film on a typeface ever made. The forum panel will include a special keynote speaker Gary Hustwit, the New York-based director of Helvetica.


As well as Helvetica, we will be screening other extraordinary short films made by graphic designers — Kaiptaal (Ton Meijdam, Thom Snels, Béla Zsigmond), and Float (Stephen Watkins).
Screening Programme as at 24 May 2007 below.


Think
Julien Bagard, Nicolas Dufoure, Jordan Harang (France)
2mins 52 secs

A lively and musical typographic animation from France.


Float
Stephen Watkins (Australia)
2 min 20 secs

Live footage and computer generated graphics were combined to create this surreal short film. Signs, symbols and typographic elements lift off from their structures and float in a swarm through the city.

Quoted from Stephen Watkin's site


Kapitaal
Ton Meijdam, Thom Snels, Béla Zsigmond (Netherlands)
7 mins 4 secs

Kapitaal (Capital) is a typo-animation about legible signs in a city, it's an impression of the enormous amount of visual stimuli that we are harassed by every day. The amount is so big that it's commercial effectiveness has become utterly dubious.

Quote from Ton Meijdam of studio smack


Helvetica
Gary Hustwit (USA)
80 mins

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day.

The film was shot in high-definition on location in the United States, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium.

Interviewees in Helvetica include some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, including Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, Lars Müller, and many more.
Stills are ©2007 Swiss Dots Ltd.

Official Website: http://www.character.rmit.edu.au/character4/index.html