created 2025-03-26, & modified, =this.modified
rel: Bug on Sensor
Thought
Thinking of how subtitles and diegesis. One of the solutions to a problem at work, involves working clear title card division as part of a workflow.
Prior to the integration of sound, movies often displayed text-based information using title cards or intertitles. This form of communication is known as diegetic content, as the actors cannot see it.
However, even after the invention of the talkie, other types of information needed to be displayed — such as translations for a foreign audience. This was usually done in a very perfunctory way, with non-descriptive text (typically achieved using a font such as Times New Roman, with a black outline to contrast with any background) on the lower third of the screen. This text is external to the story, so it seemed natural that it should be stylistically different.
Article says that now that we have typographic elements on the screen, such as on phones or other GUIs, diegetic lines are blurred.
Thought
When watching older films you’ll see credits and title cards that are ornate, and often inhabit part of the world that the film is. But subtitles often are just plain fonts (or with style even decided by the viewer). They aren’t addressed.