Hi everyone. Just a quick question and some general observations.

1. CHYRON.

Can you use CHYRON for a black screen at the start? Or is that technically a CARD or TITLE-CARD. I mean it’s still something superimposed onto a black screen.

I’d go without and just use italics but I figured it’s best to signal what I’m doing.

2. HAWKING, nudging, winking and unearned familiarity.

I’ve only just realised how much I do this.

Mary looks at a man on the floor. Who is this guy?
John accidentally chucks a dollar on the floor. Whoops.

Apparently William Goldman did this all the time. e.g.
“The biggest explosion you’ve ever seen”

Last week, I started replacing this with the emotion. e.g.
Mary looks at a man on the floor. Confused.

Which leads us to…

3. NAMING EMOTIONS.

I’m steadily going through my scripts and getting rid of places where I’ve named the emotion. Instead I want to show emotion through body language, dialogue, etc.

There’s more sneering, glaring, rubbing the back of the neck, clutching a comfort item, glancing around uneasily, etc. Which can be considered directing the actor, but I've found it enhances the story.

e.g.
glancing around uneasily to show reluctance.
slumping to show sadness.
unable to meet another's eyes to show shame.

But yeah, I still name the emotion sometimes just for emotional clarity.

eg.
John looks around, confused.

A Chyron is that strip of text and graphics at the bottom of the screen, typically on news and documentary shows. I don't think there'd be any problem using the word Chyron to describe that in a screenplay... but only if that's what you actually mean.

Otherwise stick to SUPER, TITLE, TITLE CARD, or OVER BLACK. SUPER implies that there is some image behind the text.

As for the emotion stuff, that sounds like a good idea.

Thanks FrankM.

Hmm. Perhaps "CHYRON" or "OVER BLACK" is my best option? I was going to use it over a black screen at the start to describe the country and year. "London. 1946" then later on "France. 1960".

Yeah, I immediately think superimpose with super.

On a different note, I used your link and still can't change my refresh rate. I think it's because of I'm using an LED screen. Anyways, I've recently installed Mojave/Dark Mode, I'll see if that'll make a difference. I might considering investing in a standing desk too.

Thanks for everything