How did they do graphics in old movies?

Question

I recently watched “Citizen Kane” from 1941. The whole thing has graphics (credits, flashbacks and flash forwards.) Did they use computers?

Edit: it also had those graphics fade in/out.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Citizen Kane made heavy use of different types of special effects, one of which is an optical printer, where multiple images can be combined/exposed on the same frame, for the purposes of titles, fades, compositing different images together, etc. You can even spot a pteradactyl in one scene being reused from another movie in a Xanadu scene using this technique. Roger Ebert’s commentary breaks down a ton of the special effects.