We have already referred to “panoramic” leaders giving long casts of characters, the leader moving upwards on the screen instead of sidewise as in panoramic scenes.  Today, the panoramic sub-title, as well as the panoramic letter or other insert, is quite common, especially in feature pictures.  Those directors who, notwithstanding all, still favor the use of introductory matter before the first scene, frequently resort to long panoramic sub-titles as a means of making the spectator familiar with the theme of the story before starting to tell it, just as Kipling has so frequently introduced an introductory paragraph of the same nature in his short fiction.  To our way of thinking, a thematic sub-title of this kind, used before the opening scene, is far less out of place than the ordinary introductory titles merely having to do with the characters, because it really does help prepare the spectator for the kind of story he is about to view.

Then, again, it may be added that the present-day length of leaders greatly modifies what we say—­as a sound guiding principle—­in Section 7 of Chapter XVII.  A great many excellent detective-story films have been produced, either from original synopses or as adaptations of the work of fiction writers.  In these, there has been no hesitation on the part of the director and sub-title editor to use just as many words in a leader as might be necessary to make every point of the story entirely clear and interesting.  Paramount’s “The Devil Stone,” showing the train of tragic events that followed the stealing by a wicked Norse queen of the great emerald belonging to a certain Breton priest, was one example of an intensely interesting detective story in which sub-titles supplied much more than a third of the story—­and supplied it, apparently, quite unobtrusively.  Here, again, only common sense and experience can show you what to do.

Before leaving the subject of leaders let us say once more that you must seek to find the golden middle ground between the leader that is too flowery in its language and the other that is too stilted and prosaic.  Again, in connection with the length of leaders, study the two following from Universal’s feature, “The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin,” the first of which contains only seven words, while the second contains fifty-five.

     Joy died, Hope fled.  Desolation became supreme.

Then came the Master crime.  An unoffending people was ground into extinction beneath an iron heel.  A nation was destroyed.  The Crime against Belgium being completed to its fullest, the Prussian stalked onwards with his twin comrades, Frightfulness and Horror.  A new blotch of infamy—­the Lusitania—­was added to the Black Name of the Beast.

Notice, also, that as is being done with many feature pictures of this or similar type today, the producers have adhered throughout to the past tense in wording their sub-titles.