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, except as an occasional artistic device (for instance, as a gimmick in Frasier or to describe a location in Law & Order, or in the films of Guy Maddin).

As per the name, many movies and television shows use them to display the title of the movie, show, or episode, depending.

Some locally-produced shows, notably quiz bowl game shows, use animated variations of intertitles to introduce the next round. Examples of this include QuizBusters, Hometown High-Q, and the WPSU-TV version of Scholastic Scrimmage.

"Intertitle" is an academic term invented long after the advent of the sound film. See also subtitle (captioning) and supertitle. These "titles" should not be confused with the modern-day definition of subtitle (titling) or main title.