Closing credits
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the background or a black screen. Credits may crawl either right-to-left (common in U.K. and some Latin American television programs) or bottom-to-top (common in films and U.S. television). The term credit roll comes from the early production days when the names were literally printed on a roll of paper and wound past the camera lens. Sometimes, post-credits scenes or bloopers are added to the end of films along with the closing credits.
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History
The use of closing credits in film to list complete production crew and cast was not firmly established in American film until the 1970s. Before this decade, most movies were released with no closing credits at all. Films generally had opening credits only, which consisted of just major cast and crew. Two of the first major films to contain extensive closing credits were the blockbusters Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and West Side Story (1961).
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) had one of the longest and most elaborate closing credit sequences of any film. The credits took around seven minutes to finish. It provided an animated recap of the movie's three-hour storyline, identifying the actors in the order in which they appeared. Superman also had a very long closing credits sequence. It took nearly eight minutes to end, and at the time of the film's release it was the longest end credits sequence ever. The British television series Spooks does not feature any credits, as a result of a decision made by the producers to add to the anonymity of the show's content (about the British Security Services). Instead, the credits appear as a special feature on the series DVDs, and also on the official website.
As in motion pictures, most television programs until relatively recently did not list the entire cast and crew.
Humorous credits
Some closing credits include out-takes. Sometimes a parting scene is edited in after the credits conclude as a final joke. For example, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris appears and breaks the fourth wall to say "You're still here? ... It's over! Go home!" The Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker films have included fictional production members, credits unrelated to the movie ("Author of A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens"), cooking recipes and song lyrics in their closing credits, while Monty Python have included credits for ridiculous and non-existent production staff. On some occasions, the filmmakers will have a character come back and pop in during the credits to see the goings-on (a noted example is Finding Nemo, in which several characters interact with the credits like they are physical objects. Another noteworthy example is Daffy Duck appearing in the credits of Gremlins 2: The New Batch complaining about how long they run). On other occasions additional scenes to advance the storyline (as in Wild Things, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), influence or guide the viewers to a possible outcome of the film's conclusion like in WALL-E or set up sequels (as in Transformers and Iron Man) may occur after the credits roll. The closing credits for the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have sketches of the characters and the actors who portrayed them.
Sometimes the closing credits include bloopers. This was spoofed in the closing credits of A Bug's Life, with shots of the animated characters fumbling their lines or knocking over the scenery. This tradition has carried over to other Pixar films, including Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. Most of the Jackie Chan movies also provide bloopers or humorous outtakes made during the production of the movie.
On Father's Day, Big Brother UK credits everyone using their father's name. For example, Steve Jones would be billed as "Adam Jones' son." The 2006 film Clerks 2 by Kevin Smith features an extended closing credits that included a list of anyone who joined Smith's "friends network" on MySpace.com in the months building up to the film's release. The very long list of credits (in multi-column format) has forced some theaters to either stop the projector early or to cut out sections of the film reel so that the theater could be cleaned in time for the following showing. Upon the film's release, Smith announced that he would continue the MySpace friends credit list through 2006 and would include any new names on the DVD credits when the film is released on DVD, which he did.
Marginalization for television promotion
On American television, the time the viewers spent watching the closing credit roll was often considered an opportunity to promote other shows on the network. Typically, this was accomplished by softening or muting the closing music while a voiceover pitched another program – they would often remind the viewer to "stay tuned" for the following show. To help avoid cacophony with the theme song, most American TV shows produced since 1970 had few, if any, vocals in the closing music. As technology advanced, however, networks decided to replace the voiceovers with full-blown visual promos.
In the U.S. (but not necessarily in other countries), networks now run a split-screened version of the show's credits to allow for running a promo (known in some circles as "generic credits", "split-screen credits", "squeezed credits" or "credit crunch"). NBC started this practice in fall 1994. At that time, the credits were displayed on the right side of the screen, as a promo for NBC programming aired on the left side. Some sitcoms, such as Friends or Frasier showed a tag scene, as the credits still aired in split-screen mode. Other networks that use this method of airing credits include most of the Viacom networks, such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central (with the exceptions of TeenNick and BET).
On some shows, the credits are reduced to either a rapid-fire crawl, or quick-flashing cards. In some cases, each credit would appear on-screen for less than one second. Many networks have begun a trend of placing credits at the lower third of the screen, in this format. Sometimes a promo would run shorter of the normal time it would take to run the credits at normal speed. Thus, the credits even "sped-up" near the end in order to show all the credits before the promo ended (A prime example of this is NBC's showing of Titanic, in which there were so many credits to be shown in so little time that credits switched almost every frame, making it impossible for anyone to read, even with a slow motion capability--this also occurs on some telecasts of the network's The Biggest Loser, particularly during the season finale episodes). However, full closing credits are still created by the production company and used in syndicated reruns of a program, and are always seen if the program is released as a DVD box set or is streamed online via the network's website or websites such as Hulu that specialize in airing TV programs.
Most daytime soap operas used closing credits for many years. Most of the shows aired during the week (e.g. Monday through Thursday) would list just the main people involved with the production and a few of the principal actors and actresses. However, given the large number of people involved with the production of each serial, a full cast and crew credit crawl could last three minutes or longer. Because of this, an expanded credit roll would often air at least once a week, such as on the Friday show. The closing theme often was an expanded version of the show's opening music. Starting in 1999, soap operas began eliminating the full-screen crawl in favor of the one-third screen credits/promo combination. While NBC, ABC and CBS soaps all use the upper portion of the screen to show advertisements for primetime programming, ABC soaps until 2008 showed previews for the next episode but now show promos usually for other ABC daytime shows. Daytime soaps that are rerun on SOAPnet continue to use full-screen credits. Around Christmas time, ABC soaps air holiday-themed credits; in 2007 and 2008, One Life to Live scrolled the credits over a shot of a lighted Christmas tree.
Daytime game shows worked in much the same vein as soap operas. A shorter version might list one or two people involved with the production, along with such plugs as for prizes and wardrobe providers. At least once a week, a full-length credit roll would air over the extended main theme (along with camera shots of such things as the contestant talking with the host and/or celebrities). By the mid-1990s, The Price Is Right was the lone daytime game show remaining, and it would eventually switch to marginalized credits. Game shows that have the full closing credits that do not scroll up include Go, The New $25,000 Pyramid, both the Dick Clark and John Davidson versions of The $100,000 Pyramid, and the original Mike Adamle version of American Gladiators from the second half of the first season to the end of the series run.
Some cable channels have used credits to blur the lines between the end of one show and the beginning of the following program. Previously, TNT and TBS frequently ran the program's end credits in small (sometimes illegible) type at the bottom of the screen while another episode of the same program begins at about three-quarters height used this format (TBS and TNT currently show one show's standard production credits side-by-side with the next program's cold open; in the case of TBS, this occurs only between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET, a promo will be shown if the next program's episode starts with the opening credits immediately followed by a commercial break and the split-screen credit format is not often done with movies). Similarly, on E!, Style Network, and other networks, the program-to-program transition is seamless. To do this, the networks have moved the closing credits for their programs to air within the first minute of a show, usually on the bottom 1/3 of the screen in small, translucent type. For E!, the closing credits for the program being seen at that moment is seen at the start of that program; for other networks that use this practice, whether they use a dual-pane or generic credit format, the closing credits for the preceding program is seen during the opening of the next program.
Often, the network-to-local transition between the end of the network primetime schedule and late local news on broadcast networks will feature the network show credits on the bottom of the screen, while the local news teaser sequence, station identification, news opening, and then the top story will take place. Once the credits end, the local news broadcast zooms in to fill the screen and the handoff is seamless. Despite some objections by television production unions, some programs, such as those that air on Discovery Networks and the U.S. version of the National Geographic Channel only air the credits during a program's premiere broadcast, referring viewers to a website to view the credits in subsequent broadcasts.
Some networks, such as GSN, have even begun cutting off the credits before they finish, most likely to allow more time for commercials, though in GSN's case, they have begun to squeeze the credits to the bottom of the screen making the credits virtually illegible to read or see. Many animated shows, however, still maintain and air the full version of the credits.
Notable exceptions
From 1993 to 1996, ABC shoved the show's closing credits produced by the production company in a two-panel format, with the credits on one side of the screen and a promo on the other; this format, where the production company credits are chroma-keyed to shrink and be displayed next to, or on the bottom of, a video promo for the network's programming, has been copied as of recent and is slowly growing in use, in some cases with the show credits returning to full-screen in time for the production company logos at the end of the credit sequence. Networks that use this method of airing credits include ION Television, Disney XD, Syfy, USA Network, TeenNick, WGN America, SoapNet (only during off-network syndicated shows), Hallmark Channel, and most of the Turner networks, such as TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network (some channels such as ION Television, TNT and Cartoon Network do not shrink or expand the production company closing credits from full-screen and back at any point during the credit sequence and a promo is shown along with the production company credits throughout). Spanish-language networks generally do not use generic credits; however Telemundo and Telefutura do air the closing credits of movies they air in prime time, as produced by the film's production company, in a similar manner to how ABC displayed the closing credits during movies in the mid-1990s, though the film credits are shown in a relatively rapid-fire format due to time constraints.
Some cable networks such as Disney Channel, Nick Jr. and BET still use the production company credits full-screen; in particular, TV One also uses voiceovers to promote other programs during most shows. Some cable channels mix use of generic and production company credits depending on the show, ABC Family currently airs generic credits on off-network shows where most episodes have no tag scene, while off-network shows where most episodes do feature one, the tag scene and/or production company credits are aired full-screen, and the channel's original series (since June 2010) have the closing credits overlayed on the final scene of the episode; TeenNick also shows the closing credits full-screen on most shows that have a tag scene, though those that do not have a tag and a small few that do feature the production credits/show promo combo, and since July 2010, a generic credit sequence has been used on a small few select shows (although TeenNick, since its existence as The N, generally shows the actual closing credit sequence).
American Idol, America's Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance are also exceptions, showing the full credits in a rapid-fire card format as the shows close (along with voting disclaimers). Starting with the 2004 season, ABC's sitcoms air their closing credits at the bottom of the screen, during the closing scene in a format that keeps in-line with the network's generic credits look. These credits, however, air without the dark-colored bar that airs during their other prime-time programs, except for promotional consideration tags that appear near the end of the credits. In other words, the credits are superimposed over the closing scene's action. Between 2008 and 2009, both ABC and Fox aired their sitcoms' closing credits in the shows' respective credit fonts, instead of the network generic font.
Premium channels Showtime and Starz, as well as some basic cable channels such as AMC and FX, have also squeezed down the standard production credits of movies airing in primetime to the bottom 1/3 of the screen (usually starting about 15-25 seconds into the credits and ending anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes before the end of the credits) with the film credits running at normal speed in order to show behind the scenes features, HBO, Cinemax, Encore, Epix and The Movie Channel do not do this with any of their films.
Another exception is the NBC series Chuck, which shrinks the credits to show a promo for the next episode. The only CBS program that runs its end credits free of sidescreen promos is its Hallmark Hall of Fame series, with its full scrolling credits, the way it was produced and intended to be seen.
See also
- Billing (filmmaking)
- Opening credits
- Post-credits scene
- Title sequence
- WGA screenwriting credit system
