intertitle

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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, but they are occasionally still used as an artistic device. For instance, intertitles are used as a gimmick in Frasier. The BBC's drama Threads use them to give location, date and information on distant events beyond Sheffield. Law & Order use them to give only the location of the upcoming scene. Guy Maddin is a modern filmmaker known for recreating the style of older films, and uses intertitles appropriately. Some locally produced shows, notably quiz bowl game shows, use animated variations of intertitles to introduce the next round.

"Intertitle" is an academic term invented long after the advent of sound film (see also subtitle (captioning) and supertitle).^{[citation needed]} These "titles" should not be confused with the modern-day definition of subtitle or main title.

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