# How to write a SUPER in a screenplay (on-screen text) > Write on-screen text word for word, where it appears: SUPER: over the picture, a card of its own over black, and one label for the whole script. Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26 Article updated: 2026-10-26 ## Direct answer A SUPER is text superimposed on the picture: a place, a date, a name. Write it exactly as the audience should read it, at the moment it appears: SUPER: or TITLE OVER: in the action, then the words. For words on their own screen, such as a card over black before the first scene, describe the black screen and set the words beneath it. Keep the text short, and use one label for the whole script. ## On the page A title card over black, then a date over the picture ``` BLACK SCREEN. PART ONE: THE CROSSING EXT. HARBOR ROAD - DAWN Fog sits on the water. A fishing boat noses past the breakwater. SUPER: Portland, Maine. March 1994. MARA (19), in a borrowed coat, stands at the stern. ``` ## Current practice ### Write the exact words, where they appear _Common choice_ Whatever the label, the text itself goes into the script word for word, at the moment it appears. The Academy Nicholl format guide marks a date with TITLE OVER: and centers the date beneath it; many scripts write SUPER: and the words on the same line. ## Accepted variations ### Super over the picture _Common choice_ A place, a date or a jump in time laid over a scene: the label at the moment it appears, then the words. Readers take SUPER:, SUPERIMPOSE: and TITLE OVER: to mean the same thing. ### A card of its own _Common choice_ Text that fills the screen, such as a chapter card, an opening quotation or a date over black, gets its own moment in action, before the heading of the scene that follows it. ### Names and captions _Production-specific_ Lower-third captions that name a person or a place, often called chyrons, are more common in shooting scripts and documentaries. A spec keeps them for the few names the audience must read. ## Where reasonable writers disagree There is no single standard label. SUPER:, TITLE:, TITLE OVER: and CHYRON: all appear in current scripts, and the Academy Nicholl guide itself uses TITLE OVER: where many writers would write SUPER:. Readers accept any of them. What slows a read is switching labels for the same kind of text, or describing the typography instead of giving the words. ## Mistakes to avoid - Describing the font, size or animation instead of the words. - Switching between SUPER, TITLE and CHYRON for the same kind of text. - Writing a paragraph of on-screen backstory the audience cannot read before the cut. - Placing a super far from the moment it labels, so the reader cannot tell when it appears. - Using a super for a sign or a phone the character reads in the scene. That is written material in the world, and it goes in action. ## Submission versus production ### Submission or reading draft In a spec, use on-screen text when the audience needs a fact now and the picture cannot give it: a place, a year, a jump in time. One or two well-placed supers orient a reader; a super on every scene turns into a caption track. ### Production draft Post-production designs the type and decides the timing; your words are what they set. Keep the wording and its placement stable in revised pages so the graphics list and the script still agree. ## Working in Plot In Plot, write the label, SUPER: or TITLE OVER:, as an Action line and the words beneath it. Then choose Centered from the element menu for the words. The centering carries into the PDF and into the Final Draft file you hand the office. A card before your first scene is just Action and Centered lines above the first Scene Heading. ## Questions writers ask ### What does SUPER mean in a script? SUPER is short for superimpose: text laid over the picture while the scene plays, such as a place, a date or a time jump. The words after SUPER: are exactly what the audience reads on screen. ### How do you write text over a black screen before the first scene? Start with the black screen in action, such as BLACK SCREEN, then the words exactly as they appear, all before the first scene heading. When the picture arrives, the first heading takes over and the scene begins. ### How do you write a time jump like three years later? Put it where the jump happens: SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER beside the heading of the first scene in the new time. If the picture already makes the jump obvious, a heading that names the time can do it without a super. ### Should I use SUPER or TITLE for on-screen text? Either is understood. SUPER: is the common short form for words over the picture, and the Academy Nicholl sample uses TITLE OVER:. Pick one label and use it every time, so the reader never wonders whether two labels mean two effects. ### What is a chyron in a screenplay? A caption in the lower part of the frame that names a person, a place or a time, like a news graphic. Scripts write it as SUPER: or CHYRON: followed by the exact words. Specs use it sparingly; documentaries and shooting scripts use more. ## Sources and context - [Academy Nicholl — Screenwriting resources (script formatting guide)](https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/screenwriting-resources) - [The Academy Nicholl format guide's TITLE OVER: date](https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/screenwriting-resources) These sources document current screenplay practice, software guidance, or production workflow. Screenplay style remains flexible, and any delivery brief or submission rule supplied by the recipient takes precedence. --- Canonical page: