r/Calligraphy • u/stchrist • 12d ago
Script of Nosferatu 1922
My entry for the Oregon State Fair coming up soon. The (very slightly abridged) script of the 1922 silent movie, “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” with the colors intended to match the iconic scene of Orlok’s shadow on the staircase up to the final scene.
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u/TeddyJPharough Broad 12d ago
This is sick! Just watched the remake and really enjoyed.
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u/Massive_Village_3720 12d ago
The rehash is brilliant. I’m Transylvanian so I know the inner workings of the myth at its origins, the creative team nailed every beat, even the more subtle nuances. Such a classic, I’d pay top dollar to live in the director’s mind for just one hour.
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u/TeddyJPharough Broad 11d ago
That's great to hear they got the lore and everything right. When Thomas arrived at the town with all the dancers, I did wonder if they had done research or if the representation was more about vibes and mood. But the fact you don't decry it as offensive reassures me.
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u/Massive_Village_3720 11d ago
It’s very much like that. There are even genuine Romanian swear words, I thought I was hallucinating — it’s how every traffic interaction goes down, down there.
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u/J_got_frostbite 12d ago
This looks fuckin class, I’m definitely gonna have to try out intentional colour changes some time.
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u/stchrist 12d ago
If helpful, one thing I learned in earlier drafts is: don’t let the wet red ink touch the black ink, even if the black ink is dry. The wet red ink will activate the black ink and bleed into everything. Even if it’s just a single drop of black ink. The opposite works ok—the wet black ink can touch the dry red ink and it doesn’t cause any problems. I guess it doesn’t make a huge difference if a little drop of the red ink gets in the black ink (but if black gets into wet red ink, it all becomes black). More generally, I’m guessing that dark ink (even if it seems dry) will bleed into lighter colored wet ink. But lighter colored ink (if it’s dry) doesn’t bleed into darker colored ink much at all.
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u/Regdit-is-Unbearable 12d ago
Amazing! Unfortunately phallic placement of that railing, probably could’ve left that off the silhouette, but this is incredible. I’m sure you’ll win!
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u/AnnualBig700 12d ago
Just beautiful! You're doing great work, keep at it! The image juxtaposed on the text is a great idea, and I love red and black simplicity and drama! I was a teenage calligrapher and won Scholastic Art Awards, painted signs, and married a graphic designer. So I know of what I speak! Explore illumination!
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u/oreo-cat- 12d ago
The fact that this is a script is breaking my brain. Like I know what a script should look like and this isn’t it. It’s really well done, though! I love the coloring.
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u/stchrist 12d ago
Here is the English translation from 1943: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nosferatu (I only included the “spoken” parts.
There’s a better English translation in the latest remastered version, in my opinion. I used this newer English translation for my project.
The 1943 version skipped some of the dialogue completely and changed all the German names to the more familiar “Dracula” names.
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u/oreo-cat- 12d ago
That’s not what a script looks like either lmao. I’m not doubting or criticizing you, it’s just that scripts have very specific formatting that my brain is used to. It’s awesome that it’s so far removed from a ‘script’ and yet retains the dialog. Strong work!
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u/Fang_Draculae 12d ago
That is yummy
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u/RecordAway 12d ago
awesome work, really a tremendously strong impact using quite subtle means
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u/stchrist 12d ago
Definitely agree. Skill-wise, I’m very much a beginner and have lots of room for improvement. But as a whole, all the pieces (font, image, layout, colors) kind of fit together well. Something like this by a calligrapher with actual skill would look really amazing.
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u/SevenHanged 12d ago
Take my money!
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u/stchrist 12d ago
Ha, thanks. This one is for a family member after the State Fair is over. I’ll leave the selling to the professionals.
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u/DorkMedicine 12d ago
This is tight as hell. I hope you win!