Richard Morrison has created the film titles for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows. It’s the third collaboration between Burton and Morrison, following on from the pair’s work together on the opening sequences for Batman and Sweeney Todd. The sequence was produced by th1ng, which exclusively represents Morrison for film titles design, world-wide. 

 

Morrison and th1ng are also working with Burton on a new titles sequence for Frankenweenie, scheduled for release in October 2012.

 

Dark Shadows is based on the gothic US TV series, broadcast in the sixties. Johnny Depp plays a prosperous 18th-century New England merchant, who is turned into a vampire by a local witch and accidentally disinterred in 1972.

 

For Dark Shadows, Morrison worked with original footage shot by Burton, concentrating on using type to set the mood in the opening credits. Morrison explored a wide variety of styles and type, which evoked the mood of the seventies, before selecting Benguiat. 

 

“Tim shot this long sequence where Bella Heathcote, who plays a young nanny, is travelling on a train through the New England brownwoods. It’s a beautiful bit of footage that sweeps the audience from the landscape right into the compartment of the speeding train. After looking at different treatment, we decided to keep things really simple and work with type to evoke the mood. Benguiat has a lovely feel that’s reminiscent of 70s TV shows. And together with the music score, we arrived at a very simple opening, but one that’s quite unsettling, which captures the essence of the film.”