Origin of movie opening crawl

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  1. What was the first movie to have an opening crawl?
  2. What was the first movie serial to summarize events in previous episodes with an opening crawl, the practice which is continued in the movies?

My answer in this question:

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/220675/besides-the-famous-opening-crawl-what-elements-of-star-wars-were-drawn-from-buc/220679#2206791

Includes this paragraph:

So the available evidence is that the opening crawl was used for opening credits at least as early as The Plainsman (1936), and was used in a movie serial to summarize previous episodes at least as early as the Buck Rogers (1939) serial. Thus it is uncertain whether Buck Rogers (1939) was the first movie serial to use an opening crawl to summarize previous episodes.

And I was wondering whether anyone knows the history of opening crawls and can identify the first movie serial to use one to summarize previous episodes.



Best Answer

Movie serials had been recapping their earlier stories with crawls at least since the 1920s. (Serials in the 1910s were usually series with recurring characters but not cliff-hanger endings.)

Here's an example of The Woman in Grey (1920) that has the text crawl up the screen to recap the previous episode. It does not recede into the distance like the Star Wars and Buck Rogers text does. You can see the opening credits and the crawl on YouTube at The Woman in Grey, chapter 7.

Here's a great article on the crawl with examples that may have inspired George Lucas.




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What is an opening crawl in film?

The crawl text, which describes the backstory and context of the film, then recedes toward a higher point in relation to the screen and with an apparent effect of disappearing in the distance.

How they did the Star Wars opening crawl?

Spanning two feet wide and six feet long, the models were laid out on the floor so that a low camera could longitudinally move along the text to create the crawling effect. Special effects advisor Dennis Muren has stated that the opening crawl process was very time-consuming because of focus problems and blemishes.

What is the Star Wars opening crawl text called?

The original Star Wars font crawl is known as Franklin Gothic but has become known as 'Univers'.

What movie does not contain an opening crawl explaining the story at the beginning?

Others posted a series of funny GIFs expressing their disapproval including one of Luke screaming \u201cNooooooooo!\u201d when he finds out Darth Vader is his father in The Empire Strikes Back. It's been confirmed Rogue One won't have the iconic Opening Crawl. Discuss.



The Real Story Behind the Star Wars Crawl - Cheddar Explains




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Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Andres Ayrton, Ketut Subiyanto, Pavel Danilyuk