As the film industry and art form developed in Japan, the presence of a "benshi" came to be part of the film. Benshi read the intertitles on silent films and voiced all on-screen characters. Perhaps most significantly for filmmakers, "benshi" would add their own commentary, explaining what was happening in a shot or describing what had happened in confusing edits or sudden transitions. Some "benshi" were known to interpret and add to a script, for example reciting poetry to accompany a moving visual.