Opening titles
The script I’m working on has a highly relevant scene (which might
include bits of dialogue) that sets up the main character. I want this
action to occur during the opening credits. How do I indicate this in
proper format?
– Alan McCoy
Most screenplays don’t mention anything about their opening titles, leaving it to the director to figure out where and when and how the names will run. However, if you have a specific story goal you want to achieve with your opening title sequence, you can include it in the script.
The words you’re looking for are “BEGIN MAIN TITLES.”
["Credits" generally refers to the scrolling list at the end of the movie which lists all of the people who worked on the movie. "Main Titles" (or "Opening Titles") are the people and/or production companies who have their names prominently displayed at the start of the movie, along with the title of the film.]
You can start the titles at any point within the first 10 pages or so. The scenes that run under these credits should obviously be simple enough that if the viewer is paying attention to the names — “Hey! Clint Howard is in this!” — they won’t miss any crucial piece of story information.
If you choose to use “BEGIN MAIN TITLES,” be sure to include the corresponding “END MAIN TITLES” so the reader won’t be left filling in phantom executive producers until page 45.
But just to reiterate: most screenplays never mention the opening titles. So don’t include them unless they’re serving a specific story purpose.
Formatting text shown on-screen
Producer credits and what they mean
Formatting a montage sequence
Articles
May 23rd, 2005 at 5:17 pm
Another question expertly answered with little or no mention of your package.
May 23rd, 2005 at 5:40 pm
Just wondering why you used Clint Howard in your example? You’re not pickin’ on Opie’s brother, are ya?
May 24th, 2005 at 6:51 am
Clint Howard is probably only one of three people in the universe that would put a smile on your face if you saw his name in the credits. Verne Troyer being another, and for some reason… David Hasselhoff.
May 24th, 2005 at 7:13 am
I don’t know about Verne Troyer, but seeing Jimmy Walker up there always makes me giggle. It’s nice to see someone get soem work who doesn’t try to milk it like Troyer and Hasselhoff.
May 24th, 2005 at 7:30 am
seeing david hasselhoff as an acting credit should ALWAYS put a smile on anyones face . . .
smile? i meant full belly laugh . . .
May 24th, 2005 at 8:19 am
Jimmy Walker? I guess you don’t smile too much. Is he even still alive?
May 24th, 2005 at 8:52 am
Personally, I can’t stand it when credits appear after the movie has begun. It brings me back to reality. I especially hate it when the pop up every 10 seconds for the first 5 minutes of the film.
May 24th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
I guess you’re not a Scrubs fan. Jimmy Walker was really funny in the early episodes! And Hasselhoff is when he’s not trying to so hard. I think he needs to bring back the Michael Knight ‘fro.
May 24th, 2005 at 2:19 pm
I’d agree with you Scott if the Coen’s didn’t pull it off so well.
May 24th, 2005 at 2:50 pm
sigh
I zoned out there for a minute and hit submit for some unknown reason.
What I meant to say (sans typo) was that there are a few people that pull it off, like the Coens. Their openings are almost a super-compressed act (Raising Arizona, Lebowski) shoved in before the titles to kick things off. They’re able to toss a bunch of backstory at the audience right off the bat and then give them time to digest it through the title sequence. In O’ Brother they are able to keep the pace of events and setting going by intercutting hilarious moments of their escape with the titles.
However, I certainly agree with John that this is something for the director to decide and should never enter a spec. You can still manage to write it in if you’re crafty. An engaging but brief montage on the page could make a director think, “We could do the titles right over this!” The question that begs to be asked is why you want to have the titles a certain way. The only answer I can think of would be to set the audience up quickly for tone or setting, or to convey information such as in Frequency.
May 31st, 2005 at 10:27 am
John,
My scripts usually contain opening sequences written to accommodate credits while containing elements that are relevant to the story. For example, the piece I’m working on now establishes the story’s setting as well as an action that sets a particular character’s arc in motion.
I imagine the sequence beginning as a helicopter shot establishing the location with title over. We find the action in that shot, then cut to it as it continues at ground level. Think flying over water to reveal a sprawling metropolis, to reveal a parade; cut to a pick pocketing in the crowd (That’s not the real sequence, but you’ve seen the shot.)
The chances of my directing are slim to none, so I don’t want to put actual camera moves into the script. I do, however, want the reader to see what I’m seeing. I want to imply a sweeping beauty shot that brings us to the action. And I want the time up front that creates a nice bed for the title.
That said, how would you gracefully handle this? Would you break the fly-over into detailed reveals, a few one or two sentence paragraphs, or would you compress the whole thing into one paragraph and hope for the best?
I’m walking a fine line between well-thought and not-my-department, but it might be my department one day, so I want the work to be as close to a shooting script as possible.
Thanks,
Doug
November 13th, 2006 at 11:59 am
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