The handbook of motion picture photography (1927)

PICTURE PHOTOGRAPHY it than it does upon the shining back of the Waterfowl I" Moreover brief captions save valuable footage for action ! When you see a film replete with verbose titles the chances are that you are looking at a film in which the action could not be stretched to fill the footage. In other words, long-winded titles are pure "padding." When the titles are written, their footage must be determined, for too often they will encroach sadly into the action footage, and must be pared down. No title should be less than five feet long, even if it consists of but a single word. Thus we have a five foot minimum. Note: In this chapter and in others concerned with footage determination, the foot referred to is the standard screen second foot. When working with substandard cameras remember that the foot has no relation to the actual length of the film but means sixteen frames which will require one second for projection ! Longer titles give one second for each word, up to and including ten words and one-half second for each word after that. Thus a ten word title will require ten feet of film, a twenty word title will require fifteen feet and so forth. This enables us to predetermine the footage needed for titles. As the titles are made separately, they may be given excess footage and then cut to length during the process of edition. When the titles are prepared, they are written out in order. This is the title continuity or "Cap Script." Such a list enables the actual title photography to proceed without delay. The camera work comes next. Most titles are made in black and white, and with the fullest possible contrast. Many ama 135