The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

146 The Educational Screen After all the titles are complete, prints of them are made and inserted into the origi- nal print, and given their final review. Then the finished sample goes to the labo- ratory where the negative is cut to match it, and the positive prints—those we see in the theatre—are made. So, whether we approve of titles or not, we are bound to admit that, good or bad, they represent a considerable share of the effort that goes into the making of pictures. And it might be well for us to remember in passing, that most of the work is done by people whose names never appear on the screen. In my ramblings about Hollywood stu- dios, I have been interested to discover the attitudes of various persons engaged in producing pictures, concerning the title. To begin with, they agree to a man that the title has its place in pictures, and never will be abolished. As to the length, and the number used in a picture, there are, naturally, differences of opinion. The com- mercial five-reel film averages as a rule one hundred and fifty titles, though individual producers may vary considerably from this number. Charlie Chaplin considers that primarily the title is as necessary to the moving pic- ture as the program is to/the spoken play. It serves to fix time, place, and characters in the minds of the audience, and to clinch the argument, so to speak. A biv of action on the screen, perhaps aimless or ambiguous in itself, is explained, justi- fied by a title, just as the spoken word is explained by the expression and the ges- ture. A speech which should be accom- panied by snarling laughter may lose its effect without it. Just so a film scene, no matter how finely acted, may miss its mark without the title to give it point. Chaplin's titles are short—and by that token, frequently witty. He makes them long enough to carry over the idea he wishes to convey, but he never uses thet for the purpose of delivering lectures, an he seems to need comparatively few. "Th Kid," which was an exception in man ways, but chiefly because of its length an connected plot, contained some long titles but even in that, as in his shorter picture; most of them were brief, as "His brother, "His wife," "The infuriated father." Thomas H. Ince makes much of hi titles. Each one is superimposed upon shadowy background picture that suggest faintly—bridges a mental gap—carries ove the thought, yet does not interfere with th title itself or the construction it places upo the action. Often the background of a titl is itself a moving picture. In one sea stor the action showed the two principal char acters shipwrecked. A spoken title, flashe just as the water overwhlemed them, car ried the idea vividly, showing the ver words blotted out by a great, swirlin; wave. That one suggested others of a lik nature, with the result that the finishei picture carried fully thirty titles with back grounds of moving water. Mr. Ince take a personal interest in this phase of his pic tures, maintaining a special staff of artist and camera men for the title departmenl and supervising their work himself. Charles Ray believes in the title. Hi works on the theory that the picture mus not bore its audience (upon which scon he must be classed with the magnificent minority). If to show the entire actio! leading up to a given incident causes th< story to drag, whole sequences can be cu out, and merely indicated by a title. Then, too, in a very long story it comes as < distinct relief. Not so long ago Charles Ray tried th( experiment of making a picture withoui titles. It was James Whitcomb Riley's poem, "The Ole Swimmin' Hole," and was widely remarked as a novelty. It was largely episodic, and in the absence of a connected story, the lack of titles was not