The not-for-profit Screen Nova Scotia annually honours film, television, and animation talent. For the awards gala, we developed fifteen reels to introduce the nominees for each category.

Each nomination reel begins with a voice-over and four- to eight-second evocative segments featuring scrolling chevrons, expressive typography, and animated colour. The introductory animation leads to a kinetic title screen introducing each nominee, followed by a brief video clip (edited by the production company). After an award is announced, the full award title stays onscreen. To mark a significant milestone—the award show’s tenth anniversary—animated interstitial moments include two chevrons intersecting to form the Roman numeral “X.”

Inspiration came from a film slate, a device for synchronizing audio and video in post-production. The slate has two components: hinged clapper sticks and a board (or slate) for text. The slate is characterized by two rows of rhombi that, when combined, form chevrons. The slate even appears on-screen, for example, in reality television and documentaries. As the industry matured, so did the slate (clapperboard), adapting to the ever-changing filmmaking landscape, a testament to film’s timeless art of storytelling. The film slate is a signature element; thus, the chevron was an apt trope to stand in for the diverse and talented talents of the community in film, television, and animation.