MykolaYeriomin's profile
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Sunday, August 16th, 2020

Epigraph and commentary as credits

For now crew submission guidelines doesn't mention what to with things like epigraphs and commentaries used in the title. The former is pretty straightforward. Epigraphs are quotations used usually at the beginning of the work. They're not exactly writing credits, since only a small portion of the text used which fits into 'fair use' more often than not. Usually quotation authorship in the epigraph is given after the quote and is a full name. Here is an example of an epigraph: a quotation by Andrei Tarkovsky at the beginning of every episode of "Zona" TV series.  
 
Logically, this is a credit. So years ago I added it to Micellaneous Crew section, as "epigraph" (on a series level; that should be upgraded to episode level as well, as epigraph preceeds every episode). So far this credit seem to be in use in 9 instances, most of which I added myself, I believe. However, this option was available when I first used it. In many instances epigraphs only go to Crazy Credits which, I believe is not a correct solution. Nor do they really fit in special thanks. I would argue that both are exactly what Other/Miscellaneous Crew section is reserved for with little tie-ins to other departments.  

A similar case is a contextual use of commentaries, widespread through web-series, live streams and other new media. Commentaries are either read (with oral credit) before being answered or depicted onscreen. Often both. There are 110 instances of that being listed on IMDb with two different formulations (there might be more with different formulations).
 
The question is: am I doing it right? If so, I should probably do more of that. For example Subway (1985) begins with three different epigraphs, none of which are listed/covered properly on IMDb so far.  

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6 years ago

In a way, this circles back to the title card discussion.  I've considered these to be quotes and add them in that section with the character of 'Opening Title Card' (or 'Title Card', or 'Closing Title Card', depending on where it appears), then provide the quote and the name, if stated.  Unfortunately, I can't remember any examples off hand and IMDb's quotes search tool isn't helping any.

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6 years ago

Hi Nikolay -

As David mentioned above, when epigraphs are displayed on-screen, we generally list these under the Quotes section for the title, verses listing them as credits.

I can see that our Help guides do not currently mention epigraph placement on the site, I have put in a request to update our guides with this information.

Cheers!

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Hello, Michelle!

Thanks for clarification! Still, considering a dedication credit consisting of photograph and years of life counts as a credit (dedication in that case), would epigraphs fit logically (at least) into special thanks? Because otherwise signified authorship of the quote might just be lost from the perspective of full cast and crew and credits transcript. 

Also, what should we do with cases which are credited in the credits respectively as "epigraph", "epigraph by" etc., if those would appear? 

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Don't quotes require a character to originate from?
Socrate[s], Sartre and Sinatra are not characters in Subway (1985).

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bderoes, quote technically could be from a text in the film or titles or uncredited character, but that is also very much a great point. 

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Apparently it can be done, but I'm not sure I want to see how it turns out. Shall I submit this to find out? I don't like the fact that there's no way to indicate it's part of the credits. I think I'd be happier with a Trivia item.


BTW: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/16/do-be-do/
(So does Vonnegut need a credit on this film too?)

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bderoes, great find. The three are credited for the quotes, but Vonnegut pretty much had his work used there, verbatim. If you'd ask me it's the same situation as paintings used in the movie, which often merits the credit on IMDb. 

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Re: how it turns out: the names will be in normal bold text.

I would suggest using [epigraph] or similar as the first line to indicate where it's from; perhaps the guide can establish the format if something is added.

Edit: David's suggestion of using "Title Card" or similar in the character field also works and is in keeping with the general guidelines, but I would still prefer putting the name in the character field when there is a name.

Example: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3281548/quotes?item=qt4962125

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6 years ago

Nikolay: There was a similar question last year (see https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/when-is-quotations-an-appropriate-credit-need-help-from-contributors-and-staff).

In that discussion, staffer Will said that when "A title card or a subtitle includes a quotation and credits the person who said it" (which would include epigraphs), "the individual shouldn't be credited in the filmography section. You may record these details ... in the crazy credits section and potentially as a trivia item given the context, but these shouldn't be listed as filmography credits."