I need some advice and information.

How far (pages or even minutes wise) is it typical to see a Title Over segment after an intro?

If you aren't sure what I mean, I'm talking about a choreographed musical segment.

I know that there must probably be a range of about anywhere from (my guess would be 3 to 7 minutes) but it would be nice to hear from someone with knowledge of this.

Thank you in advance for anyone who might have the answer--save me digging around.

Sandra

Sandra,

This question should belong in the screenwriting class thread since it's a screenwriting question and not something you are looking for.

To your question, I really don't have a professional answer but I can guess by saying that you have a good page range where the title segment should be. It's not written down in stone, so you can put it anywhere. However, its common sense to have it near the beginning. So, I will say around 1-10 pgs.  

Hope this helps in anyway,
Gabe

Thanks Gabe,

I'll take it over to that thread.  Yes, things aren't usually written in stone, and sometimes you can push the edge.  I think probably 7 minutes is pushing it.

Sandra



[Edit:  Thread has been moved -- bert]

Since there hasn't really been an answer yet, I'll chime in with a thought.

There is no rule here. If you want to place a title somewhere, you can feel free to place it wherever you want it, or no where at all. There are movies out there with no title sequence whatsoever. The movie just starts and once it's over, the title is shown. You can plug a SUPER: TITLE where you think it's appropriate, but at the same time, the director or producer may choose to move it to where they want it.

The bottom line here is that you shoudln't let the placement of a title slow you down or be a point of concern. A lot of scripts have no title placement in them at all.

Thank you George,

It wasn't something I had initially planned, but it just came up in the course of writing where  I envisioned a choreographed musical sequence coming just after an edgy beginning and this sequence seemed the perfect opportunity for the "Title."

Before this, I hadn't really given much thought to its placement or the effect of its omission entirely.

Could it be perhaps that movies with dramatic openers followed by the title leave a bit of an imprint in our minds even after the show is over?  I wonder.

Sandra

Nah, they probably do that because they know people came in late and missed the cool font they came up with at the beginning.