Views From Your Muse

ASK UNCLE DAVE

A SUPER question

QUESTION

When writing a screenplay, is it the writer who writes the text that appears on the screen? I'm thinking of X-files and Clear and Present Danger.

ANSWER

The text you refer to is actually a SUPERIMPOSITION, and you should include it in your script. You superimpose a title or legend over the image that we see. The term superimpose is generally shortened to SUPER in a spec script. Here's an example.

EXT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT

EMT's rush a patient out of an ambulance and into the hospital.

SUPER: "Bethesda Medical Hospital."

Scully's car comes to a quick stop. She steps out with her cellular.

                   SCULLY
            (into cellular)
        Mulder? Are you there? 

Please note that I followed the heading (or slug line) with a sentence of description. You must first give the audience a visual image before presenting the SUPER that will appear over that image.

If you'd like, here is an alternative expression for a SUPER:

The words "BETHESDA MEDICAL HOSPITAL" spell out across the lower left of the screen.

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