Note that an ellipsis has very specific meaning and purpose, that something has been omitted. The straightforward answer is: it is not an ellipsis. Mini-digression: In the 16th edition, Chicago eschewed simplicity and elected to use two different terms for ellipsis points, calling them ellipsis points when they indicate a real omission and suspension points when they show faltering or suspended speech or thought.
#Star wars opening scrawl manual#
The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed., 2010) says, in section 13.39, that in dialogue the points show "faltering or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion or insecurity." It may be that this distinction between an ellipsis and suspension points is a fairly new one, though- this page seems to say The Chicago Manual of Style only started making the distinction in 2010:ĭescribing this other role of ellipses, The Canadian Style (2nd ed., 1997) says that they denote "a silence in dialogue, hesitation or interruption in speech, a pause in narrative, or the passage of time" (section 7.05). If the group "usually" consists of three, that seems to indicate that it isn't absolute, and it might be acceptable to use more to indicate a longer pause. Suspension point - mainly US one of a group of dots, usually three, used in written material to indicate the omission of a word or words. That answer quotes the Collins English Dictionary as saying: As mentioned in the accepted answer to this question on the English language & usage stack exchange, when periods are used to indicate a pause in speech-which is what is presumably going on with the Star Wars opening crawl-they are called "suspension points". I can’t find anything with Lucas acknowledging this, but there’s a good chance he used a four-dot ellipsis because that’s what Flash Gordon did.Īn "ellipsis" specifically refers to a set of three periods to indicate that some section of a quote has been omitted.
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I misjudged it – see comment for a more plausible spacing explanation.
#Star wars opening scrawl full#
Notice that it ends with four dots, not three.Īnd maybe it’s just me, but it looks like the third and fourth dots are closer together than the first three – which might lend credence to the theory that the fourth dot is really a full stop. Here’s the final paragraph from the opening crawl of an episode of Flash Gordon: It cites the Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary, which I don’t have to hand, so I can’t check myself. Lucas has stated that the opening crawl was inspired by the opening crawls used at the beginning of each episode of the original Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers film serials, which were the inspiration for Lucas to write much of the Star Wars saga. It was, says Muren, difficult and time-consuming to achieve a smooth scrolling effect.According to Wikipedia, Lucas was influenced by Flash Gordon and similar programmes – he watched them as a child, which lead him to write his own space opera. The crawl effect was accomplished with the camera moving longitudinally along the model. Muren says the models were approximately two feet wide and six feet long. The roll-up, alternatively called the "opening crawl", is an homage to Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s and 1940s, which Star Wars creator George Lucas enjoyed as a child.Īccording to Dennis Muren (who worked on all six films), the roll-ups on the "original trilogy" films: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, were accomplished with physical models laid out on the floor.
![star wars opening scrawl star wars opening scrawl](https://i.redd.it/l29dvkqhr8j31.jpg)
A subsequent downward pan reveals the film's episode number, the subtitle in all-capital letters, and a three-paragraph summary of events immediately prior to the events of the film. Two typefaces were used in the crawl: News Gothic bold for the main body of the crawl and Episode number, and Univers light ultra condensed for the title of the film. Original Alternate French Star Wars Opening Crawl SlideĮach of the Star Wars films begin with nearly identical openings, in which the text "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." is displayed, followed by the Star Wars logo over a field of stars.