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Diagonal billing · A clever solution for giving equal credits https://ilo.im/169fk1
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Diagonal Billing (or Staggered Billing)
A solution for equal movie star billing The 1974 disaster movie The Towering Inferno had the advantage of two huge stars: Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Supposedly, neither of them wanted to be portrayed as second to the other. So the studio had a problem: whose name should go first on the movie poster and in the credits? What is Diagonal Billing? Diagonal billing, sometimes called staggered billing, is a way of arranging the names of movie stars to give them equal prominence. Instead of listing one above or in line with the other, the names are placed diagonally: • one name in the bottom-left, • the other in the top-right. This balances the natural reading hierarchy—left to right, top to bottom—so that either name can be read first. It was the clever compromise used for McQueen and Newman in The Towering Inferno, and it has been repeated in many Hollywood films since. Why Diagonal Billing Works In English, we naturally read from left to right and top to bottom. We start reading this way in articles like this, but also posters, adverts, and web pages. Which means what we see top-left is naturally emphasised compared to what we encounter towards the end in the bottom-right. It's also why my sketches typically have a title in the top-left and a logo in the bottom-right: you're meant to see them in that order. Diagonal billing cancels out a name on the left by placing it at the bottom, and emphasises the name on the right by placing it at the top. Examples of Diagonal Billing Balancing Steve McQueen and Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno is how I first learned of staggered but equal billing (from my Dad, though he denies it). You can see the staggering of names in the original movie poster. Other examples include: Cheers TV credits: Ted Danson and Shelley Long Scenes from a Marriage (2021): Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac Chicago (2002): Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones Westworld (1973): James Brolin, Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004): Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow Righteous Kill (2008): Robert De Niro, Al Pacino Keep an eye out for it in movie posters and opening credits, and help me add to the examples! Related Ideas to Diagonal Billing Also see: The Gestalt principles of visual perception The Blur Your Eyes Test F-Shaped Reading The Rule of Thirds Use styling instead of colons Design for a Glance, a Look, a Read Information Radiator The real shape of a crossing (diagonal!) The site TV Tropes also discusses diagonal billing.
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