Cue mark

Common card · No. 473996

A cue mark, also known as a cue dot, a cue blip, a changeover cue or simply a cue, is a visual indicator used with motion picture film prints, usually placed in the upper right corner of a film frame. This can range from small circles to text, scribbles and other drawn indicators. The 1999 movie Fight Club popularised the term cigarette burn, also used in the eponymous episode of the 2005 TV series Masters of Horror. Cue dots are also used as a visual form of signalling on television broadcasts. A pair of cue marks is used to signal the projectionist that a particular reel of a movie is ending, as most movies presented on film come to theaters on several reels of film lasting about 14 to 20 minutes each (the positive print rolls themselves are either 1,000 feet or, more commonly, 2,000 feet, nominally 11.11 or 22.22 minutes, absolute maximum, with more commonly an editorial maximum of 9 to 10 or 18 to 20 minutes). The marks appear in the last seconds of each reel; the first mark, known...

Read on Wikipedia · Image w:Walter Lantz, w:Walt Disney and w:Universal Pictures, Public domain