intertitle

thumb|The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) used stylised intertitles thumb|Cinema etiquette title card () In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, inter-) the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialogue intertitles", and those used to provide related descriptive/narrative material are referred to as "expository intertitles". In modern usage, the terms refer to similar text and logo material inserted at or near the start or end of films and television shows.

==Silent film era== In the silent film era, intertitles were mostly called "subtitles", but also "leaders", "captions", "titles", and "headings", prior to being named intertitles, and often had Art Deco motifs. They were a mainstay of silent films once the films became of sufficient length and detail to necessitate dialogue or narration to make sense of the enacted or documented events. The British Film Catalogue credits the 1898 film Our New General Servant by Robert W. Paul as the first British film to use intertitles. Film scholar Kamilla Elliott identifies another early use of intertitles in the 1901 British film ''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost. The first Academy Awards presentation in 1929 included an award for "Best Writing – Title Cards" that went to Joseph W. Farnham for the films Fair Co-Ed; Laugh, Clown, Laugh; and Telling the World''. The award was never given again, as intertitles went out of common use due to the growing popularity of the "talkies".