{"id":91662,"date":"2017-06-30T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=91662"},"modified":"2017-06-26T15:11:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T20:11:49","slug":"stylize-video-with-character-title-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/stylize-video-with-character-title-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Stylize Your Storytelling with Character Title Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Character title cards avoid exposition while telling your audience what they need to know. Learn when (and when not) to use them in this in-depth look.<\/h2>\n

Cover image via Marvel Studios<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Creating a scene that is solely expository\u00a0is a cardinal screenwriting sin. Exposition refers to background information that explains the current situation in a story. It’s indirect material that doesn’t naturally come up in conversation.<\/p>\n

(There are some circumstances when\u00a0it’s impossible to avoid\u00a0blunt exposition, such as two police detectives talking at a crime scene. Their entire conversation\u00a0is naturally going to simply present facts, both to each other and to the audience.)<\/p>\n

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\nImage via Miramax Films<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When exposition\u00a0would seriously interrupt the viewing experience<\/strong>, filmmakers seek\u00a0other\u00a0ways\u00a0to communicate background information. One of those methods is the use of\u00a0a character title card<\/strong>, which can also go by the name of a “boss subtitle<\/a><\/strong>” \u2014 a reference to the title that appears when facing a boss in a video game.<\/p>\n

The use of title cards long precedes video game boss titles. You can find some of earliest uses in old Chinese action films \u2014 a trope that would later inspire\u00a0Quentin Tarantino<\/a>\u00a0to use character title cards<\/strong> in his films.<\/p>\n

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\nImage from <\/em>The\u00a0Masked Avengers<\/a> via Shaw Brothers Studio<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Uses of The Character Title Card<\/h3>\n

If you’re considering a character title card for your project, let’s have a look at some of the primary uses of this onscreen graphic<\/strong>, how to use it properly, and how it can sometimes be redundant<\/p>\n

First and foremost, you must be aware\u00a0that character title cards pull your audience out of\u00a0the film world in which you’re\u00a0trying to immerse them. The character title card often appears during a freeze-frame<\/strong>, so you now have two elements that\u00a0could disengage your audience. The duration of the character title card is key to not ruining immersion<\/strong>. Character title cards that appear\u00a0with a freeze-frame shouldn’t last more than\u00a02-5 seconds, depending on the amount of text.<\/p>\n

The primary use of a character title card (or a boss subtitle) is to give the audience essential\u00a0information<\/strong> that would seem trivial or forced in conversation. They can also communicate character histories that are relevant to the story.<\/p>\n

Let’s have a look at a few examples<\/p>\n

In the still below from 2015 film\u00a0Creed<\/a><\/em>, character title cards introduce several characters.<\/p>\n

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What does this information do for the audience? It certainly heightens the tension, as we’ve gone from\u00a0Adonis Creed stepping into the ring to spar with somebody, to\u00a0Adonis Creed stepping into the ring to fight\u00a0someone who has won 10 times by\u00a0knockout. During\u00a0the transitional moments<\/strong> of Adonis asking the gym owner to train him, and Adonis\u00a0stepping into the ring to prove himself, there were no moments that would have been suitable to include this information.<\/p>\n

This is the perfect use of a character title card, and if you analyze the design of the card<\/strong>, you’ll notice it mimics a classic boxing promotional poster.<\/p>\n

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A\u00a0character card doesn’t have to include this much information. As we see in\u00a0Scott Pilgrim vs. The World<\/a><\/em>, the characters appear\u00a0with their name, trait, and age<\/strong>. This is particularly important in regards to Scott’s new girlfriend. Scott, who is 22, is currently dating a girl in high-school. His friend Kim pokes fun at that, but we don’t find out her age through dialogue. If this dialogue had been\u00a0something like “Oh my god, you’re dating a seventeen-year-old,” it wouldn’t\u00a0sound as organic<\/strong> as “You’re dating a high schooler?” When his girlfriend arrives, we see\u00a0a small character title with his girlfriend’s name and age.<\/p>\n

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An important thing to note is that in these examples, cards aren’t\u00a0a foreign concept<\/strong> to the story’s source material. Scott Pilgrim draws from\u00a0video games and comics, and overlays are common during televised boxing matches. If title cards are mismatched with your narrative material<\/strong>, you may have to get more creative.<\/p>\n

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Mise-en-Sc\u00e8ne\u00a0Title Cards<\/h3>\n

What if you don’t want to use a freeze-frame or include an element of information<\/strong> that exists outside of the film world? Filmmakers can get creative and include character title elements in the scene itself<\/strong>. Let\u2019s look at an excellent example from 2014\u2019s Guardians of The Galaxy<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In this scene, all of the principal characters have just been arrested, and we don\u2019t know a lot about them save for Peter Quill. In one scene, they are undergoing processing\u00a0in a space prison, and the officer is relaying information<\/strong> about each character to his partner. There\u2019s no doubt about it: there\u2019s a lot of exposition flying around, but as I mentioned earlier, there are some situations \u2014 and it usually involves crime \u2014\u00a0when it\u2019s hard to get away from exposition. Instead of overwhelming the audience<\/strong> with too much expository dialogue, the filmmakers emulate a character title card \u2014 but in the form of a digital projection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The guard\u00a0says,\u00a0\u201cSubject 89P13. Calls itself Rocket. The result of illegal genetic and cybernetic experiments on a lower life form.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, onscreen, through the database projection, we see a lot more information, and it tells us that Rocket is one of the rowdiest characters of the cast: “13 counts of theft, 14 counts of mercenary activity, 15 counts of arson \u2014 has a tendency to bite.”\u00a0<\/em>Since this information\u00a0is a projection in the scene<\/strong>, the fourth wall stays intact.<\/p>\n

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When Not To Use The Cards<\/h3>\n

As with every great technique, there’s a time and place to use it. Character title cards may not work in specific genres<\/strong>, but what about films wherein the character title cards are a genre convention but their use still falls flat? For this, let’s look at 2015’s Suicide Squad<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Suicide Squad<\/em> was perhaps one of the most heavily criticized blockbusters of 2015, and its editing was a prime culprit (you can watch an excellent thirty-minute analysis of the editing here<\/a>). The character title cards in this film were poorly done for one very particular reason: the information on the cards is not essential<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Will Smith’s character Deadshot is a good example of the problem.\u00a0We learn from a title card that he’s an assassin for hire, a “human arsenal,” lethal from 4,000 meters, and an expert marksman. This character title card lasts for ten seconds. However, we then proceed to a sequence wherein we see for ourselves<\/strong> that he’s\u00a0an assassin for hire \u2014 and that he can kill a target from very far away. Sometime later, another scene demonstrates\u00a0his proficiency with multiple weapons. The title card doesn’t actually convey\u00a0any extra information<\/strong>, and when you see one for each character, it becomes fatiguing.<\/p>\n

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Create Your Own Character Title Cards<\/h3>\n

Thankfully, YouTube has many tutorials that can teach you how to make your own character title card. Film Riot made\u00a0an excellent tutorial on how you can make stylized character introductions<\/strong>, similar to the style of character title cards in a Guy Ritchie film \u2014 or from the 2006 film\u00a0Smokin’ Aces<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n