Didn't think I would ever have to pose questions here again, lol, but, I do.

I'm currently rewriting Desert Tears. Someone suggested I add a title card after the first scene. I like that idea and I know I've seen it many times while reading scripts, I just can't remember which scripts, so I can't look them up. How do I do it? New page? How, where, larger fonts etc? My mind can't think of how to do it right now. As many times as I've seen them, I guess I never paid attention to how they were done. Anyone?  :)

Pia, I can see lots of examples online, but...

How long and what is your title card going to read as? To clarify you're not talking about a quote or credit sequence, just the actual title coming up after some opening visuals or voice over?

Quoted from Grandma Bear Didn't think I would ever have to pose questions here again, lol, but, I do. I'm currently rewriting Desert Tears. Someone suggested I add a title card after the first scene. I like that idea and I know I've seen it many times while reading scripts, I just can't remember which scripts, so I can't look them up. How do I do it? New page? How, where, larger fonts etc? My mind can't think of how to do it right now. As many times as I've seen them, I guess I never paid attention to how they were done. Anyone?  :)

If it's what I'm thinking, it's a simple super. Other details (size, font, etc., don't matter):



SUPER:                             DESERT TEARS

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/pulp-fiction-script/
https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Reservoir-Dogs.html

There are lots of examples.

FADE IN, Action blah, blah,

Then, in most examples I see:

Bold and CAP the font, left aligned:

INSERT TITLE:

"DESERT TEARS"

Sometimes:

Title Disappears is written.

I'd do it creatively however you want to.

This one I don't like as much:

In the recent Victor Frankenstein it's described as

"SLAM TO TITLE:

FRANKENSTEIN.

The title lurches forward, crackling with electricity as it emerges from the center of a violent lightning storm."


That's a Reddit post btw.

Quoted from LC Pia, I can see lots of examples online, but...

Can you give me some links please? I know I've read a ton of scripts with them in it, but I can't remember any specific titles. I just never pay any attention to them while reading.

I have a first scene that I want to end with. Then what? FADE OUT? Put the title on the next page? Use FADE IN: and then the title? I want the title to appear over a desert highway with heat shimmering off of it.

I just have never thought of how to do this for maximum visualizing effect. I know, old dog, slow to learn.  :D

GREAT! I must have typed after you posted that! Thanks as always Libby.  8)

Honey Mustard - in horror here - had a good example of Title Card.

I don't use them myself.

Quoted from eldave1 Honey Mustard - in horror here - had a good example of Title Card. I don't use them myself.

Funny! I just read that one a couple of months ago. Title cards don't typically standout to me, but this time I wanted to use one after someone suggested a reason for it. I just didn't want to ask him out of fear of looking stupid. :D

Quoted from Grandma Bear Funny! I just read that one a couple of months ago. Title cards don't typically standout to me, but this time I wanted to use one after someone suggested a reason for it. I just didn't want to ask him out of fear of looking stupid. :D

IMO - they are not needed. To me, that is what the title page is for. But I use bold scene headers and folks think that's not needed. TO each his own.

Those links I gave weren't the best, just that Tarantino uses a lot of title card inserts - even for characters - see Reservoir Dogs.

Here's another example in Hanna:

EXT. FOREST FLOOR - DAY. 1
Sparse forest. Snow falls.
Breathing and the BEAT of a person running.
HANNA, fourteen years old, long hair, eyes like blue ice,
dressed in animal skins, glides through the trees, a bow
strapped to her shoulder.
She slows, crooks her head, listening, her breath visible in
the freezing air.
A FEW HUNDRED YARDS away
A REINDEER nuzzles the snow, searches for grass.
Its head pops up. It looks at the trees but doesn’t see her.
The bow string STRETCHES. Her blue eyes focus. She exhales
deeply and releases.
The arrow glides and SNAPS into the deer’s side. It flops,
its feet running without ground, frantic.
It resurrects itself, blood slipping from its side, and
sprints. She sprints after it, the trees strobing past her.
She follows the trail of blood in the snow.
The deer stands in a clearing, waiting for her.
Steam pours from its mouth and nostrils.
HANNA approaches, removes a fur glove.
She reaches out and gently pets the animal’s frightened face.
She runs her hand down along its neck, in towards the wound.
HANNA
I just missed your heart.
She pulls out an old pistol from her waist holster, pauses,
and then-- POP. POP. into CAMERA.

CUT TO TITLE: HANNA

I would have bolded the title.  ::)

Best way to see examples without searching individual scripts is:
Search screenplay format insert title and bring up images. Lots to look at there, including one that used an Insert Title plus a Super for location below it. I just wasn't able to copy it.

Even if technically a lot of people say it's a directorial choice I say the more we do to distinguish our scripts with vibe/atmosphere, describe our vision, the better.

It sounds like it really suits your opening, Pia.

I did a title sequence in a script, including a shit ton of info that was congruent to the story at hand… and in all its fucked-upness… I just book-ended it with:

INTREPID POV: TITLE SEQUENCE

Sequence…

END TITLE SEQUENCE

Intrepid is one of the main characters, and the title sequence was his point of view (POV) through a set of ‘luminescent pixel goggles’ grafted to his face.

I was going the route of the opening motion graphic sequence for ‘Se7en’. It was quite awhile till the (title sequence) showed in that script as well.

Here’s the script link I found for that if interested:

https://sfy.ru/?script=se7en

Tick... tick... tick.  The car alarm seems quieter.

Tick... tick... tick.  Somerset continues his concentration.  The
metronome's sound seems louder.

Tick... tick... tick.  The sound of the car alarm fades, and is
GONE.  The metronome is the only sound.

Somerset's face relaxes as he begins to fall asleep.  Tick...
tick... tick...

INSERT -- TITLE CARD






Pretty much as simple, or as complex as you want it to be?  I think.

It's up to you if you want to share a specific vision for the opening title sequence, or just let the director do it.

As mentioned, it can be as simple as using a SUPER: at the right moment. I've also seen TITLE CARD: which seems to indicate nothing of consequence on screen other than the text. The only time I've ever used that in a script was for a show-within-a-show.

I have played around with the opening and closing. Who Wants to Be a Princess? includes "Opening theme simplifies to Holly’s flute solo," Glass House has scenes explicitly set to run alongside the closing credits, while the closing credits in the dawn-of-AI script Timmy are billed as the "list of humans not to be harmed during the New Uprising."

I'm not going to be offended if someone experienced in production ejects any or all of those, but I think they give the pieces some personality.

Thanks everyone! I have an idea how I will do it now. It would NOT be approved by some, but...

This guy is in the business and said it would fit perfectly in my script and give it a more visual movie feel than just reading a script. I didn't want to seem like an idiot by asking how I would go about doing that, so that's where you guys come in.   ;D :K)