How to write a title card in a screenplay

A title card in a screenplay is text the audience reads on screen — a place, a date, a chapter name or a line of information — and it is written as SUPER: when the words sit over a picture, or TITLE CARD: when they stand alone, usually on black, followed by the exact text in quotation marks.

On-screen text is one of the few places where the writer controls the final words the audience sees, so the format is about precision: where the text appears, what it says and what is behind it. This guide covers supers, full title cards, opening titles, chapter cards and scrolling text, with original samples. For the rest of the page, see the screenplay format guide.

SUPER: text over a picture

A super, short for superimposed, is text laid over live action. It is the most common kind of on-screen text, and it is written in the action, usually after the scene heading and a line of description so the reader knows what the words sit on.

EXT. FERRY TERMINAL - DAWN

Gulls circle a line of idling trucks. A ticket
booth opens its shutter.

SUPER: "Harwich. Six days before the strike."

Three conventions keep a super clear:

• SUPER: in capitals with a colon, then the text in quotation marks, exactly as it should read.
• Put it after the description of the image, not before, so the reader sees the picture first, as the audience will.
• Keep the text short. If it would take more than a few seconds to read, cut it or turn it into a card.

Some writers use SUPERIMPOSE: or TITLE: instead of SUPER:. All are understood; choose one and use it throughout the script.

Location and time supers

A location or time super tells the audience where or when a scene happens when the image alone cannot. The scene heading already tells the reader, but the audience never sees scene headings, so a super is how that information reaches the screen.

Use them when the place or date matters to the story and cannot be shown: the first scene in a new city, a jump of years, a countdown. Skip them when the picture does the job — a shot of a famous skyline needs no label.

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT

SUPER: "Eleven years later."

The same vending machine, now dented. Ana, older,
feeds it a coin and waits.

Here the super comes first because the time jump must register before the audience reads the image. Either order is acceptable; choose the one that matches what the audience should notice first.

TITLE CARD: text on its own

A title card is text shown full screen with no picture behind it, usually white on black. Write it as its own beat, often after FADE IN: or a cut to black, so the reader knows the image has gone.

BLACK SCREEN.

TITLE CARD: "In 1952, the river changed course
in a single night."

FADE IN:

EXT. DRY RIVERBED - DAY

Some writers prefer CARD: or simply describe it as action: White text on black reads, followed by the words. What matters is that the reader can tell the picture has gone and knows the exact text.

Opening titles and the film's name

Spec scripts rarely list opening credits. If the title of the film appearing on screen is a deliberate moment — a hard cut to the name after a cold open, for example — write it as a card or super and leave the rest of the credits to the edit.

Leon slams the trunk shut. The lock clicks.

SMASH CUT TO:

TITLE CARD: "THE LONG WAY ROUND"

If the title appears over a sequence, say so in action: The film's title appears over the empty highway. The cold open in Last Call shows how an opening can build to that moment.

Chapter cards

Chapter cards divide a film or episode into named parts, each introduced by a card. They are a stylistic choice, so use them only when the structure is part of how the story should feel, and keep the format identical every time.

TITLE CARD: "PART TWO — THE WITNESS"

INT. POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

A tape recorder clicks on.

Name the parts consistently — all numbered, all titled or both — and place each card at a real turn in the story, so the chapters reflect the structure rather than decorate it.

Scrolling text, signs and subtitles

Other on-screen text has its own conventions:

• Scrolling text: say that it scrolls, then give the text, as in Text scrolls up over a starfield, followed by the lines in quotation marks.
• Signs, headlines and screens inside the world: describe them in action, often in capitals, such as a sign reading NO ENTRY AFTER DARK. These are not supers; they are part of the picture.
• Translated dialogue: write the line in English and add (in Portuguese; subtitled) as a parenthetical, or note once in action that a scene plays in subtitles.
• Phones and computers: use INSERT or ON SCREEN; the text messages guide covers those in detail.

Common mistakes

• Using supers for information the scene should dramatize. If a card explains the backstory, ask whether a scene could show it.
• Inconsistent labels — SUPER on one page, TITLE on the next, CAPTION on a third.
• Text too long to read in the time it is on screen.
• Forgetting quotation marks, so the reader cannot tell description from the words on screen.

Write it in Scenaloom

In Scenaloom you can write a super as an action line, and the subtitle element sets a centered line for card text that stands alone, such as a title card or THE END. Both print the same way in the PDF as on the editor page. See formatting for every element, or start a script.