# Words on the Screen in a Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604 "2006-10-07T14:39:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/1 "2006-10-07T14:39:44Z")
Let’s say a movie takes place in London, 1890. The opening scene is a foggy urban setting, where horses and carriages clop about. But just so the audience is aware, words on the bottom of the screen say “London, 1980.” Is there a more specific term in the movie industry than “words on the screen”? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/2 "2006-10-07T14:43:36Z")
Titles, typically. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/3 "2006-10-07T15:10:44Z")
Did we really have horses and carriages clopping about as recently as 25 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/4 "2006-10-07T15:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Did we really have horses and carriages clopping about as recently as 25 years ago? [/QUOTE] Oops, I meant 1890. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/5 "2006-10-07T15:26:53Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] Titles, typically. [/QUOTE] I’m just a lowly sometime indie filmmaker, but this is how I term them: At the beginning of the film, ‘Titles’; at the end of the film, ‘Credits’; within the film, ‘Captions’. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/6 "2006-10-07T15:28:52Z")
Let’s call it the “Establishing Title.” ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/7 "2006-10-07T15:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Did we really have horses and carriages clopping about as recently as 25 years ago? [/QUOTE] There’s not a tourist trap at one of the large parks in London or anything like that with the whole Hansom cab thing these days? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-on-the-screen-in-a-movie/375604/8 "2006-10-07T15:53:02Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] Oops, I meant 1890. [/QUOTE] I can see it the original way. It’s a foggy night. As a hansom cab trudles by, a caption appears: LONDON 1890. A shadowy figure slinks into an alley. The prostitute there greets him. It’s been a good night. She might make enough for her opium _and_ rent. She doesn’t see the knife until it’s far, far too late. A montage of the killer, the prostitute and the knife… We hear the clop-clop clop of a horse’s hooves on the cobblestones. The killer looks in the direction of the sound. A closeup of the horse-drawn vehicle, similar to the first shot. As we track it, it passes a row of parked cars. The caption reads LONDON 1980.