Intertitle

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(Redirected from
Title card
)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) used stylised intertitles.
Cinema etiquette title card (c. 1912)

In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., inter-) the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialogue intertitles", and those used to provide related descriptive/narrative material are referred to as "expository intertitles".[1] In modern usage, the terms refer to similar text and logo material inserted at or near the start or end of films and television shows.

Silent film era

In the

silent film era, intertitles were mostly called "subtitles", but also "leaders", "captions", "titles", and "headings", prior to being named intertitles,[2] and often had Art Deco motifs. They were a mainstay of silent films once the films became of sufficient length and detail to necessitate dialogue or narration to make sense of the enacted or documented events. The British Film Catalogue credits the 1898 film Our New General Servant by Robert W. Paul as the first British film to use intertitles.[3] Film scholar Kamilla Elliott identifies another early use of intertitles in the 1901 British film Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost.[4] The first Academy Awards presentation in 1929 included an award for "Best Writing – Title Cards" that went to Joseph W. Farnham for the films Fair Co-Ed; Laugh, Clown, Laugh; and Telling the World.[5] The award was never given again, as intertitles went out of common use due to the growing popularity of the "talkies".[6]

Modern use

In modern use, intertitles are used to supply an

acts
" of a film or multimedia production by use as a title card. However, they are most commonly used as part of a historical drama's epilogue to explain what happened to the depicted characters and events after the conclusion of the story proper.

The development of the

game shows
, use animated variations of intertitles to introduce the next round.

Amateur use

Intertitles have also had a long history in the area of

Famicom Titler.[7]
: 21 

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Intertitles.
  1. OCLC 746948137
    .
  2. S2CID 194065623
    .
  3. ^ The British Film Catalogue, by Denis Gifford (Routledge, 2016), page 142.
  4. ISBN 978-0521001243
    .
  5. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
    . Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Best Title Writing". Awards and Shows. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  7. ^
    ISSN 0147-8907
    .


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