Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1932)

The fine art of titling PAUL D. HUCON TITLING is a task to be taken seriously. It does not consist of writing a few haphazard wisecracks that would fit one picture as well as another and it does not consist of telling in words a story which is not told in action. If a film is worth screening, it deserves a thorough job of titling, done consistently in the mood of the picture. This titling should help the film where it is weak without appearing to do so. It should underline the points that need emphasis and add suspense. The titles should harmonize with the action and with one another as do the instruments in an orchestra or the voices in a quartet. If the spectator remembers the titling, as such, that is not always to be taken as a compliment: it may show, on the contrary, that the words are out of balance with the action — too strong or too weak as the case may be. A good title is accepted as unconsciously as the lining of a well tailored garment. The title writer should look elsewhere than to the audience for approval of his work. Mood, of course, is the paramount requirement in any title. Even commonplace narrative statements in a comedy have to be couched in a light vein. Instead of writing, The Jones shack, which is colorless and sounds like courtroom evidence, it is easy to write, The Jones estate. If there is room for more footage, the title legitimately expands to Except for the Trust Deed, the First Mortgage and the Second Mortgage, the Joneses were sole owners of their estate. There is no need to be too stingy on footage, as long as the type is legible and the title does not exceed twenty to twenty five words. Simplification of ideas will do more to create an appearance of brevity than cutting down the actual number of lines. The title just given contains only one idea, ownership, although it is expressed in twenty words. It builds up that one idea to the point of maximum effectiveness. To make full use of a situation, be it expressed in titles or in action, is a surer sign of mastery of the medium than extreme condensation of an excess of material. That twenty word, one idea title was easy to read; it built up suspense; it was in the mood of the picture as a whole. As last impressions are always remembered more vividly, the last word of the title was "estate," Refinements that give distinction to amateur titles immediately preceding a view of the shack. This anticlimactic method helps the comedy mood; it would be lost if the word order were changed. In a drama in which the estate is a reality, the case will be reversed: For ten generations, the gray walls of Dunbar ton Castle had echoed the comings and goings of a proud family. Here, the use of the past tense ("had echoed") increases the feeling of time and fate. It adds spaciousness and builds up the historic mood by summing up past events. The title ends on the word, "family," which strikes the keynote of the story. If the first scene in that dramatic setting happens to be the arrival of an heir, the title will be modified accordingly: For ten generations, the gray walls of Dunbarton Castle had witnessed the solemn moments in the lives of a proud family — of course without direct reference to the event about to be shown. A title should never, never "tip off" what the film itself is about to show. That is the one absolute rule of title writing that is discounted only in newsreels and scientific films. Any "tip off" weakens the action instead of building up suspense, as if one read the last pages of a novel before tackling the story. But, if the picture fails to show the action, the title has to make up for it: We heard the roar of lions in the tall grass. The roar is not photographed and probably the lion is not seen at that stage. These things may be presented in the title which would precede a scene showing the surprise and alarm of the hunters. Although titles are not substitutes for action, they have to be used as such when action fails, when it is impossible to photograph a needed scene or when it is undesirable to present it graphically as in an instance represented by the title, He shot himself. Even in this case, some kind of previous scene should give support to these words and the action immediately following must be adequate for the magnitude of the event. In working toward this, the title writer must be allowed the privilege of changing the editing of the film to make best use of whatever shots will help him to build an appropriate setting for the titles. Editing and titling go hand in hand. Whatever the mood of the picture, an opening title is expected to lead the mind directly into the scene that follows. Between sequences, there is often great advantage in having the title supply the transition between what has been shown and what is coming. Examples of [Contitnued on page 566] Charles DuBois Hodges, ACL Test your ability by writing a title to fit this scene 552