Credits

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The credits (also trailer ) is a graphically designed end member of a film , a television program or many computer games . The credits are typically shown in the credits . It is convention to name the actors first and then the staff - often with the most important people first. At the end of the credits there are usually the production companies and legal information, especially the copyright information. Technically, the credits are usually implemented as a roll title .

Technique and effect

The filmmakers often use the credits as an opportunity to express thanks or dedications . Sometimes there is also information about the actual location . The sponsors or their brand names are usually mentioned here and technical information on film processes, material and lens systems used, as well as official approvals and - in addition to the film company or distribution information - the year and country of production. Often, those interested can find out the music titles they have heard, including the interpreter and composer .

However, many viewers only see the credits as a boring appendix and therefore ignore it. This creates a conflict of interest between filmmakers, viewers and television broadcasters.

Very old films usually have no credits. The film was often ended here with a simple “Ende”, “The End” or “Fin”. The names of the participants were only mentioned in the opening credits . Today, in many cases, a mixed form is used in which only the names of the most important actors, producers and the director are faded in in the opening credits, and after the film there is an extensive credits in which (almost) all those involved are mentioned.

Measures to increase the attractiveness

In the cinema , the majority of the audience leave the hall at the beginning of the credits, which in many cases can last several minutes. The filmmakers have developed various methods over time to counteract this as much as possible. It can happen that a complex, nested plot is only resolved by key scenes that were not previously shown and that are incorporated into the credits (a special feature e.g. in Wild Things , Super 8 ). This also applies to the Hangover , where unclear things are explained in the credits.

A variant of this method consists in showing a short, mostly funny scene plot as a "bouncer" only after the traditional credits. Examples: Pirates of the Caribbean , Manitou's Shoe , The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie , Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie , The Detective Conan Series and Scary Movie .

Some films also try to entertain their audience with funny slips of the tongue or other mishaps ( outtakes ) during the shooting (e.g. in Jackie Chan films). Pixar has produced specially designed “breakdowns” for the credits for its computer-animated films.

In addition, one of the title songs or theme melodies can usually be heard during the credits . For many film composers who have to compose close to the picture during the film, the end credits serve as an opportunity to work out the developed musical ideas in a more concert version and to give them more freedom, similar to the classic overture of many Hollywood films of the Golden Age . In this way, abrupt changes in mood that the film prescribes can be composed more fluently in the concert version. On many albums of instrumental film music, the title in question is often referred to as “End Credits” or “Suite” and is usually placed at the end of the album, but sometimes also deliberately set at the beginning to give it the overture character.

The makers of television programs are also interested in showing credits, although these credits are much shorter from the start than those of movies. Nevertheless, here, too, attempts are often made to make the credits more interesting, e.g. B. Show Comedy Series as SketchUp like after the credits have an extra sketch.

With slapstick comedies, it can also be worthwhile to stay in the cinema seat for the entire end credits, because more gags will show up when following the end credits. Several cake recipes are included in the credits of " Die nackte Kanone 2 1/2 ", and at the end: "If you had left at the beginning of the credits, you could have been home long ago."

Ending treatment when broadcast on television

Unlike in the cinema, film and series credits are almost always removed in free TV and replaced by small windows that are shown at the same time as a preview for the next film or a commercial . This is justified by the fact that the credits interrupt the program flow and encourage the viewer to change the TV channel.

Some public television broadcasters in Germany practice another variant of shortening the end credits , in that the end credits are sometimes played at a much higher speed than actually intended; in places parts of the credits are simply removed. The music, which inevitably has to be cut off by this process, is faded out towards the end or overlaid with spoken program instructions. If the last movie scene can still be seen in the background at the beginning of the credits, the credits only accelerate, clearly visible, after the last black fade .

Schindler's list is a special case

The only feature film that is always shown with credits on free TV is Steven Spielberg 's Schindler's List . Steven Spielberg's license agreement stipulated, among other things, that the film must not be cut by television broadcasters and that opening and closing credits must be shown in full. On ProSieben, the screen was split for the last time it was broadcast : In the upper half of the picture, the end credits ran with the usual credits , in the lower half scenes from the film.

This procedure was also used for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the free TV premiere on ORF .

Treatment as advertising space in "Sky" pay TV

Since the end of 2013, the end credits have been used as advertising space in the first broadcast channel “Sky Cinema”. Sky has communicated that this is a guide and that many customers have welcomed it, but opponents have launched an online petition to stop advertising in the film credits. Sky reacts to the fact that it is not an advertisement or an interruption.

Letter abbreviations

Occasionally, especially in US films, the names of some crew members are followed by various letter abbreviations in the credits, which are intended to explicitly refer to the membership of the person concerned in a certain, often worthy association. The most important abbreviations are:

There are also a large number of other associations of practically all professional groups represented in film, but their members are seldom explicitly highlighted as such in the credits. Its umbrella organization is the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes or IATSE for short

If the pseudonym Alan Smithee appears in the credits , the person concerned does not want to be associated with the film.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: End credits  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Setting of advertising in the film credits on change.org