


īilling demands even extended to publicity materials, down to the height of the letters and the position of names. In addition, more stars began to demand top billing. As a result, since the late 1960s, a significant amount of the billing is reserved for the closing credits of the film, which generally includes a recap of the billing shown at the beginning. This, combined with changes in union contracts and copyright laws, led to more actors and crew members being included in the credits sequence, expanding its size significantly. Īfter the studio system's collapse in the 1950s, actors and their agents fought for billing on a film-by-film basis. The studios still followed the billing system of the silent era. ĭuring the era of the studio system, on-screen billing was presented at the beginning of a film only a restatement of the cast and possibly additional players appeared at the end, because the studios had actors under contract and could decide billing. Big stars such as Pickford, Fairbanks, and Chaplin were billed above the title, while lesser stars and supporting players were billed below the title. Also originating during that time was the system of billing above and below the title, to delineate the status of the players. From then on, actors received billing on film. She signed on with the release of her first IMP film, The Broken Oath (1910), she became the first film star to receive billing on the credits of her film. Laemmle wanted Lawrence to be his star attraction, so he offered her more money (US$250 per week (equivalent to $7,271 in 2021)) and marquee billing, something Biograph did not allow. In 1910, Lawrence was lured away from Biograph by Carl Laemmle when he started the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP). According to Mary Pickford's biography Doug and Mary, she was referred to by the public as "the Biograph girl" in all of her films before 1905.īefore Mary Pickford, the public used to call Florence Lawrence the " Biograph girl".

As late as the 1910s, stars as famous as Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin were not known by name to moviegoers. Actors themselves did not want to reveal their film careers to their stage counterparts via billing on film, because at that time working in the movies was unacceptable to stage actors. They also feared that, once actors were billed on film, they would be more popular and would seek large salaries. Which movies use credits in their posters? They are almost always in live action and documentary films they are rarely in animated films.From the beginning of motion pictures in the 1900s to the early 1920s, the moguls that owned or managed big film studios did not want to bill the actors appearing in their films because they did not want to recreate the star system that was prevalent on Broadway at that time.In many of the poster credits that I found the American ones often have the parental guidance certificate on the left hand corner. What logos should there be? By convention, the logo of the distributor appears in the bottom right, the logos of the production companies begin in the bottom left.What colour are they? They should be matching to the artwork of the poster they are often in grey or in a soft muted tone linking to the rest of the artwork.

What font is used? Univers 39 Ultra Condensed.Sometimes they play a vital role in designing the poster. How many lines do they have? On average they have four lines, usually at the bottom of the poster and underneath the title.The size of the credits should not be any smaller than 25% of the title height, giving it a tall and compressed font. The presence, size and order of poster credits are also subject to the collective agreements between unions, such as the Directors Guild of America (DGA), and the Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers (AMPTP). Why do posters have credits? Poster credits are there to display the contracts signed between the companies involved in a film and the cast and crew members.They are widely known as the ‘billing block’ or ‘credit block’.
#MOVIE BILLING BLOCK MOVIE#
