How are intertitles (title cards) denoted in silent movie scripts?
Most modern film scripts tend to have very strict formatting with regards to action, characters, and dialogue. Yet I cannot find many silent film scripts which denote title cards in the screenplay.
Is there a standard syntax to indicate intertitles in silent film scripts?
Best Answer
In these three examples, you can find different ways of doing it.
It is denoted with "Spoken Title", "Sub-title" or just "Title" instead of the number of the shot/scene.
Here are examples from the links:
(1) The Sidewalks of New York (1923)
Scene 13--The battlers break and glare at
Reagan. One of them, a freckled specimen with
dangerous eyes, asks:
Spoken Title--2
"What's his trade-mark?"
Scene 14--Long shot, as in Scene 12. Reagan
bites a "chew" from a plug of tobacco and then
replies:
(2) The New York Hat
Exterior of house - porch
Room: Girl putting hat on
Sub-title: Sunday morning - She attempts to explain
Room: Man with hat in hand, walking toward door
Exterior of house - fence - gate: Man coming out of gate
11. INT. ON BACK STAGE. . AMBER
This is a general shot of the backstage before
the rise of the curtain and must be most interesting
and picturesque. THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE IS ONE
OF CHAOS and confusion. Sixty stage hands are
moving about the large pieces of scenery. They are
putting up the set for the first scene, the
home of Faust the aged alchemist. In evidence
are carpenters, florists, drapers, curtain hangers,
firemen, call-boys and property men. In the rear
of the stage is the dressing room corridor
leading to the numerous dressing rooms.
TITLE M. DEBIENNE AND M. POLIGNY, MANAGERS
OF THE OPERA HOUSE.
12. INT. MANAGER'S OFFICE.
FULL SHOT
Discovered M. Debienne, M. Poligny and M. Lavelle,
Secretary. The corpulent M. Debienne and the
slender M. Poligny appear to be in the throes of
a great mental stress - Debienne mops his perspiring
forehead and exhales deep sighs of despair while
Poligny stares into space with a gloomy expression --
at his desk nearby sits M. Lavelle, their secretary,
a bright dapper fellow, whose whistling at such
a trying moment grates on the managers' nerves--
every now and then he glances with contempt and
annoyment at the others' discomfiture--Debienne
glances despairingly at a large volume which lies
before them on the table open.
Pictures about "How are intertitles (title cards) denoted in silent movie scripts?"
How do you indicate a title card in a screenplay?
How to Write an opening title sequence into a screenplay? You write an opening title sequence by writing a subheading, \u201cBEGIN TITLES.\u201d Then when finished, write \u201cEND TITLES.\u201d Finally, to a beach where the waves crash up against crystallized rocks.What are the title cards called in silent films?
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.What is an intertitles in silent cinema?
Definition of intertitle : a word or group of words (such as dialogue in a silent movie or information about a setting) that appear on-screen during a movie but are not part of a scene.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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