X-files reboot?

The title fonts on the new season were the same, if I remember correctly, as the Blu ray versions, so maybe the original font is no longer in the FOX archives?

 

How hard is it to re-create a font, though?

 

I don't disagree at all about the DVD quality, I don't even own a Bluray player and have no plans to in future. I was just sharing the series Creator's frustration at the time of that forum that the show had seemingly been neglected.

Incidentally at that event they screened two episodes at full theatrical size from the available source and it looked pretty good. One was the episode that took place on the cruise ship during WWII (shot on the Queen Mary), the other was the one with the disgruntled Genie.

 

The CEO of the company that did the remastering for the BDs addressed the title sequence font issue. Long story short, sounds like they didn't try too hard. I appreciate the guy being honest about it, I guess. Even lazier that the new miniseries just poached the BD version of the titles, the only change being centering the on-screen text to allow for 4x3 cropping (are they still showing 4x3 versions on the SD versions of Fox stations?). Anyway, here's the pertinent part of the interview:

Some fans have expressed disappointment that the original logo font has been changed in the opening titles for this remaster. Were there issues that prevented the original text style being retained?

Unfortunately, the exact font was not available to us. We used the closest font we could find to match the original production.

I find that interesting in that Fox included the original logo font on the cover of the Blu-ray set and also on newly produced merchandise.

If we had known what the original font was or had access to that, we would have used it. We did our best. Maybe we didn't talk to the right people; maybe there is somebody out there that's "oh, this is the font", but we didn't have access to them. Yes, it's not exactly the same, but hopefully people can look aside from that and look at the integrity of the entire show and accept the fact that it's not the same, but it looks great.

Read more: Remastering 'The X-Files' in HD, Q&A with Jim Hardy CEO of Illuminate »

 

An issue I have with the opening title font isn't so much that it's different (though that's an issue too), but that the resolution of the text is very cheap-looking. It doesn't look like an HD text graphic; it looks like the resolution of player-generated sub-titles or something.

 

Blimey, you replied to my post whilst I was in the middle of editing that last section out ...

Brought to you by the very same guys that screwed up the Season 2 Blu ray of Star Trek: The Next Generation... I would say good grief, but not even Chris Carter went the extra mile for the new season with regards the original font!!!

I'm hanging on to the DVD box-set like grim death now...

 

It's not, but what happens in these post houses is that many fancy themselves graphic designers when they're not. They lack training and sensitivity in that area but think they know it all. Yes this is a generalization and I don't wish to offend all such craftspeople, but I have repeatedly seen my own work in film and TV altered and ruined by those in post-production. Once the project falls onto their hands it's now "their project", and there's usually an uutter disregard for those who created the work in the first place.

On a series I recently did that aired last Fall we designed and built an archway sign at the entrance to a ranch. The star of the show was very involved in approving this piece and it was designed and built very quickly to meet it's shoot date. When the episode aired I was shocked to discover that in post they had via VFX completely changed the sign, both the name of the ranch and the font were different and the letter spacing was awful. This was done without consulting the series' Production Designer or myself, the Graphic Designer.

I called up the Post supervisor and asked why the sign had been changed. He told me the show runners wanted the name changed to that of the family that owned the ranch. The problem with that was that legally that particular name was not clear for use which is why the name on the sign we built was what it was. These two show runners had not been on the series at that time the sign was filmed, they came in after a mass firing and restructure of the series' leadership and were oblivious to that information. I asked why Post had not come to us to provide a new layout file to accomplish the task, after all we were all still working on the show and it is our job to insure everything under our area of responsibility is done right. Naturally I did not get an answer. I did ask that the next time such a situation occurred on any future project he might be involved in that he reach out to the Art Department for their assistance so that such changes could preserve the integrity of the work. And the Producer whose job it is to worry about the ramifications of using the non-cleared name was not happy at all once she was made aware of what had happened; well that's show biz!

 

Very lazy when it's a minor thing you can't leave intacted...
I will never let go of my X-files dvds.. it's perfect for some..
But, never the less I enjoy them..

 

I think one of the issues with the "nitpicky" criticism of the opening title font being off is that, unlike other one-shot mistakes that we've seen on projects, this incorrect font is seen literally on every single episode. It's one little mistake that, even if you like to skip past the opening credits, you'll often see before you hit the "skip" button. Very glaring.

One would think they could have approximated a better font even if they couldn't get the exact correct font.

 

Does anyone here have Time Warner Cable and have episode #5 available on demand? I missed it when it first aired and have been waiting weeks for it to be put up. Episode 6 was available the day after it aired, but I haven't watched it cause I haven't seen #5 yet. Can't imagine why it wouldn't be available, but it isn't for me. I sent an e-mail to Fox about this weeks ago, but got no response, of course.

 

I thought they were all here

Watch The X-Files Full Episodes Online on FOX NOW »

 

Yeah, I know I can watch it on my computer somewhere. But I don't like watching TV on a computer, I want to watch it on my TV.

 

Since it's being discussed, I did think it strange that the new season used the original opening credits from the earlier seasons, especially since the opening titles were updated during the original show's run, including new ID badges and aesthetic.

Shouldn't season 10 have continued from there? Hell, if they simply used an edit of the Season 8/9 titles the images would have been more appropriate than 1993 shots.

 

Ah, I got it. What about hooking a notebook to your TV? I did it a few times with the PC behind the TV using a HDMI cable...

 

I didn't even notice the wrong fonts. I did notice that Scully and Milder each looked 20 years younger....

 

I like the season 9 introduction update. I was very surprised that the new season went with the original introduction.

 

IIRC, he told her about the coming plague that would kill most of humanity and offered her the 'vaccine' [for lack of a better term] that would alter her DNA [like Scully] and save her. I forget the exact reason she left his service ... just got disgusted by it all?

 

Maybe the message there is "forget about the last few seasons, we're just going to deal with Mulder and Skully".

 

I think it was mostly just a matter of playing to nostalgia by keeping the original opening credits (though of course cropped to 16x9).

 

This rather extensive review of the unfortunate ninth season is probably the best analysis I've read, and of which, I wholeheartedly agree;

The X-Files – Season 9 (Review) »

The X-Files should have ended on a high with the criminally-underrated Season 8... one of the very best seasons of that show, period. If they'd only had the good sense to close the book by choice right there instead of having it closed on them by forced cancellation a year later, the show's legacy would have been assured, alas...

Bingo. For all of Chris Carter's assertions that the new season - whatever your opinion of it - wasn't a victory lap, the fact is it felt like one... and not a particularly great one at that; bright and clean digital cinematography is not The X-Files' friend (although the aforementioned Season 9 went with a brighter overall color palette, and it didn't work for them either!), plus throwing eight/nine/whatever years of mythology out the window and contradicting everything established beforehand just to kick the (lucrative) can a bit further down the road was a woefully misguided decision in all respects.

I think the only reason (other than mercenary) for a new season of The X-Files at this point is to finally finish and untangle the clusterfudge that Chris Carter has now created... but it's a pity he got it to this point when a bit more thought and restraint on the new season, specifically honoring what came before with regards the mythology, would have went a long way in justifying the new episodes' existence.

 

Nice essay, with some nice points but I disagree with the assessment. The ninth season was about letting go of Mulder and allowing the characters to move on. The only awkward part of season nine was Scully constantly being called by Doggett and Reyes--they didn't learn to work around her character effectively and it did diminish some episodes but not to the degree that it might have.

I agree that season eight was a strong return after the disaster of season seven (and have always said it was) which featured meta-television at its worst with some episodes.

I've always felt that the seventh season was the nadir of the show but, because the show had already peaked popularity wise, it allowed the series to pursue two strong and underrated seasons. There were missteps with season nine without a doubt as Carter (who was not largely involved in planning season eight and only came back once he saw how strong the season was going to be) wanted to plan out another story arc thst wasn't as successful as previous seasons.

The thing that taints the ninth season the most is the horrible final episode.

I would agree with you that the "10th season" was largely a disaster and that's because the season largely rested on its laurels.

 

As I understand the situation, Carter was innately involved with Season 8 from the outset, having renewed his contract for a further year just prior to the broadcast of the finale episode of Season 7 (alongside David Duchovny agreeing to return full-time for half the eighth season's run in return for the settlement of his lawsuit against the studio)... it was the development of Season 9 that began without Carter as showrunner, but he eventually signed on after scripts and plotlines had already begun to be developed.

Which makes the recent 'sack Chris Carter' online chatter all the more futile, as the single worst season began without Carter at the helm and with the likes of Vince Gilligan (and that's no slight on Vince, how could it be when he oversaw the single greatest television series of our lifetime?) at the forefront... and look at how that season worked out. Carter is like George Lucas; he's a brilliant ideas man, he just needs someone to both bounce off and restrain his worst instincts, and unfortunately, his usual co-conspirator, Frank Spotnitz, was unavailable for the most recent season (such as it was).

 

This could seriously be the worst scene in the entire series:



The only reason I watched it again was to spot all three Lone Gunmen (yep, Byers is there).

 

I don't know that I would state he's brilliant. He's very talented but like Roddenberry he works better as part of a team. One device that drives me bananas is when Carter uses voiceover or opening narration in his written episodes. They feature some of the worst writing by any writer on the series. I have no problem with Vince Gilligan working on the season. We are speaking, after all, of the guy that created Breaking Bad.

Frank Spotnitz is also a pretty talented guys but he co-wrote the second X-Files movie as well.

 

I edited my initial post to include Breaking Bad just prior to the above reply, so no argument from me there... it wasn't just a great series, it was utterly extraordinary.

I happened to like the second X-Files movie; it was an intelligent, atmospheric, and understated character piece... unfortunately, that's not what audiences wanted.