intertitles
Text between scenes
Intertitles are text cards inserted between scenes in silent films, providing dialogue, narration, or exposition.
Before synchronized sound, they were essential for conveying what characters said or explaining plot developments.
The technique occasionally appears in modern films as a stylistic choice: The film uses intertitles to mark the passage of time.
Without color gradations
- nickelodeonCoin-fed entertainment machine
- slapstickExaggerated physical humor
- pantomimeDrama through gesture alone
- 1920sPost-WWI American decade
expressionism · kinetoscope · flicker · projector · vaudeville · vintage · talkies · Griffith
Change from one state
- fadeLose intensity gradually
- dissolveDisperse into liquid
- cutSeverance or reduction
- pacingRate of movement
rhythm · sequence · continuity · ellipsis · montage · timing · insertion · placement
Systematic explanatory presentation
- narrationVerbal account delivery
- announcementPublic declaration of information
- scene-settingCreating initial context
- commentaryExplanatory remarks on events
translation · explanation · contextualization · bridging · pacing
On-screen dialogue text
- supertitlesProjected theatrical translations
- closed-captioningOnscreen transcription of audio
- accessibilityEase of approach
- hearing-impairedHaving partial or total deafness
translation · opera · theater · restoration · archival · preservation
Styled written characters
- calligraphyOrnamental handwriting art
- typesetArrange text for printing
- fontCharacter style set
- serifLetter terminal flourish
ornamental · gothic · readability · legibility · vignettes · hand-drawn · illuminated · stylized
black-and-white
Without color gradations
- nickelodeonCoin-fed entertainment machine
- slapstickExaggerated physical humor
- pantomimeDrama through gesture alone
1920s · expressionism · kinetoscope · flicker · projector · vaudeville · vintage · talkies · Griffith
transition
Change from one state
pacing · rhythm · sequence · continuity · ellipsis · montage · timing · insertion · placement
exposition
Systematic explanatory presentation
- narrationVerbal account delivery
- announcementPublic declaration of information
- scene-settingCreating initial context
commentary · translation · explanation · contextualization · bridging · pacing
subtitles
On-screen dialogue text
- supertitlesProjected theatrical translations
- closed-captioningOnscreen transcription of audio
- accessibilityEase of approach
hearing-impaired · translation · opera · theater · restoration · archival · preservation
lettering
Styled written characters
- calligraphyOrnamental handwriting art
- typesetArrange text for printing
- fontCharacter style set
serif · ornamental · gothic · readability · legibility · vignettes · hand-drawn · illuminated · stylized
intertitlesspoken dialogue
Voiced character conversation
talkies · sound film · voiceover · narration · audio track
title, titled, entitle, subtitle, titling, titular, untitled, titleholder, retitling