Yellow-bellied TV Credits
April 19, 2010 10:38 AM Subscribe
Why do so many old TV shows seem to have used the same yellowish-orange color in their credits?
While watching this clip about Future Cop, I realized that the color used in the credits makes me instantly think of older TV credits. A little poking around reveals lots more shows that use a similar color, so I don't think it's confirmation bias. CHiPs, Perfect Strangers, Dukes of Hazzard, Bonanza, Webster, Small Wonder, Magnum PI, BJ and the Bear, TJ Hooker, Simon and Simon, Falcon Crest, Growing Pains, Laverne and Shirley, Taxi, Love, American Style, Dallas, etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. Examples aren't hard to find.
Was it some constraint of the titles production process (does anyone know anything about the process?), or just the easiest color to work with, or the only way it could be done with cheap or older machines?
Or is it all just confirmation bias and I'm crazy?
While watching this clip about Future Cop, I realized that the color used in the credits makes me instantly think of older TV credits. A little poking around reveals lots more shows that use a similar color, so I don't think it's confirmation bias. CHiPs, Perfect Strangers, Dukes of Hazzard, Bonanza, Webster, Small Wonder, Magnum PI, BJ and the Bear, TJ Hooker, Simon and Simon, Falcon Crest, Growing Pains, Laverne and Shirley, Taxi, Love, American Style, Dallas, etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. Examples aren't hard to find.
Was it some constraint of the titles production process (does anyone know anything about the process?), or just the easiest color to work with, or the only way it could be done with cheap or older machines?
Or is it all just confirmation bias and I'm crazy?
I agree with sanka: I think all of those have alternating clips or at least multi-colored imagery in the background, and yellow is traditionally used for titles over busy backgrounds. For example, this blue wouldn't work in a lot of those, because you've got sky colors, and also because yellow-orange doesn't try to compete as much as other colors would.
In those compositions, where there is more than one item of interest, i.e. background scenery, foreground characters doing things, AND credits, minimizing visual competition is vital.
posted by circular at 11:03 AM on April 19, 2010
In those compositions, where there is more than one item of interest, i.e. background scenery, foreground characters doing things, AND credits, minimizing visual competition is vital.
posted by circular at 11:03 AM on April 19, 2010
I agree with the reasons posted above, but I would also point out that yellow has an advantage of readability over several other bright colors in the spectrum on a TV screen. Red, for example, often reads very poorly, especially if it's too saturated, it will bloom out and blur the letters.
posted by wabbittwax at 11:29 AM on April 19, 2010
posted by wabbittwax at 11:29 AM on April 19, 2010
I assume it also has something to do with the fact that, back then, you couldn't be sure your audience was watching TV in color. That level of brightness is probably what translates to the most readable gray.
posted by paanta at 11:40 AM on April 19, 2010
posted by paanta at 11:40 AM on April 19, 2010
I recall from watching text-heavy advertisements on late night TV that white text in big letters would often cause a buzz in the soundtrack.
From this chart, it's apparent that the "chroma" part of the frequency spectrum for each of the traditional broadcast channels is next to the "audio" spectrum at the top of each channel, and I think white letters (involving maximal output of all three color bands?) must have bled over into the audio.
On the other hand, I imagine the yellow-orange color was chosen as a classic mini-max solution: minimum interference with audio for maximal readability.
I'm not sure whether that implies that the yellow-orange signal would be at the bottom of the chroma frequencies next to the "video."
posted by jamjam at 2:26 PM on April 19, 2010
From this chart, it's apparent that the "chroma" part of the frequency spectrum for each of the traditional broadcast channels is next to the "audio" spectrum at the top of each channel, and I think white letters (involving maximal output of all three color bands?) must have bled over into the audio.
On the other hand, I imagine the yellow-orange color was chosen as a classic mini-max solution: minimum interference with audio for maximal readability.
I'm not sure whether that implies that the yellow-orange signal would be at the bottom of the chroma frequencies next to the "video."
posted by jamjam at 2:26 PM on April 19, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sanka at 10:42 AM on April 19, 2010