Intertitle
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In motion pictures, 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, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed. Intertitles were a mainstay of silent films once they became of sufficient length and detail to necessitate dialogue and/or narration to make sense of the enacted or documented events. The development of the soundtrack largely eliminated their utility, except as an occasional artistic device (for instance, as a gimmick in Frasier or to describe a location in Law & Order, or in the films of Guy Maddin).
"Intertitle" is an academic term invented long after the advent of sound film (see also subtitle (captioning) and supertitle). These "titles" should not be confused about with the modern-day definition of subtitle (titling) or main title.
Notably, Alfred Hitchcock began his career as an illustrator of intertitles for silent films. He resumed this work for his television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
See also
- Acknowledgment (creative arts)
- Billing (filmmaking)
- Character generator
- Closing credits
- Credit (creative arts)
- Digital on-screen graphic (BUG)
- Lower third
- Opening credits
- Subtitle (captioning)
- Title sequence
- WGA screenwriting credit system
Examples
- Thalia in a Three Stooges title cards
- The time is short, you die at dawn from the intertitles of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)