I'm trying to canvass people's opinions about a policy of IMDB.
Suppose you have two documentaries in which various interviewees appear. In one, they are mentioned by name and job title in the commentary or by the presenter; in the other, they are additionally given an on-screen caption mentioning that same name and job title. It may be a stylistic whim of the director as to whether or not he chooses to give on-screen credits to interviewees, and is probably not a measure of how much they contributed to the programme.
By current IMDB rules, the first set of interviewees are regarded as "uncredited" and therefore their credits are (a) hidden if they have no other credits, and (b) listed alphabetically rather than in order of appearance. In the latter case, they are visible and listed in credit order (order of appearance).
Do people think that IMDB is right to make this distinction, or should all acknowledged appearances - a mention either in speech or in print - be regarded as being credited?
My thinking is that they should all be regarded as credited and that "uncredited" should be reserved for people whose existence is not acknowledged in any way - eg seen in the background; no "speaking part"; fleeting, unacknowledged glimpse in archive footage etc.
Discuss... :-)
Suppose you have two documentaries in which various interviewees appear. In one, they are mentioned by name and job title in the commentary or by the presenter; in the other, they are additionally given an on-screen caption mentioning that same name and job title. It may be a stylistic whim of the director as to whether or not he chooses to give on-screen credits to interviewees, and is probably not a measure of how much they contributed to the programme.
By current IMDB rules, the first set of interviewees are regarded as "uncredited" and therefore their credits are (a) hidden if they have no other credits, and (b) listed alphabetically rather than in order of appearance. In the latter case, they are visible and listed in credit order (order of appearance).
Do people think that IMDB is right to make this distinction, or should all acknowledged appearances - a mention either in speech or in print - be regarded as being credited?
My thinking is that they should all be regarded as credited and that "uncredited" should be reserved for people whose existence is not acknowledged in any way - eg seen in the background; no "speaking part"; fleeting, unacknowledged glimpse in archive footage etc.
Discuss... :-)
Posted 3 years ago
Peter, Champion
Adrian, Champion
Joel, Official Rep
Martin said that ”...by current IMDB rules, the first set of interviewees are regarded as "uncredited”.”
This is not really true, since if the person is introduced/mentioned in speech, it shouldn’t be ”uncredited”:
”Documentary subjects are presumed to be credited if they are identified on screen or verbally during their appearance."
This is not really true, since if the person is introduced/mentioned in speech, it shouldn’t be ”uncredited”:
”Documentary subjects are presumed to be credited if they are identified on screen or verbally during their appearance."
Adrian, Champion
As far as I can tell, he's talking about being introduced in the commentary (which is not available in all formats), so this isn't the same as being introduced by speech in the actual movie. Maybe, I'm wrong.
Audio commentary? I thought he was just using the ”commentary” term, meaning narration or similar. Which is usually the case with documentaries.
Adrian, Champion
Maybe. But directors don't always appear in the documentaries they film. The usage of the word "commentary" for me has a specific meaning when it comes to movies, meaning the commentary that started as an extra feature on laserdiscs and carried on into DVDs and BluRays.
Apologies. I meant in the narration or piece to camera by the presenter, not any later commentary by director or actors.
Adrian, Champion
Then, that case is covered in the cast guide as Eboy has posted.
https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/cast#castorders
https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/cast#castorders
Peter, Champion
https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topi...