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How to Make Your Own Movie Title Graphics

Movie titles come in many different forms. Some Hollywood movies spend millions on their title sequences, which may involve detailed 3-D graphics and hours of painstaking work by artists and animators. Others hew to the simple, classic white-on-black titles that serve a simple, informative function. While the former is well out of the reach of most home movie makers, there are ways to make more interesting titles than the latter.

Things You'll Need

  • Computer
  • Digital video camera
  • Video editing program
  • Art supplies
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Instructions

    • 1

      Create simple, scrolling titles in your editing program. Open your title tool and choose scrolling titles. Scrolling from bottom to top, white-on-black is the most traditional title format, but feel free to get creative. Just make sure your titles are not so flashy or unconventional that they are unreadable. After choosing your title style and entering your names and titles, place the titles on your timeline. You may need to adjust font size, color, and speed of scrolling to best fit the length of your titles.

    • 2

      Shoot live titles on paper. This less impersonal approach will create physical titles that will be one-of-a-kind. Draw titles on paper or a chalkboard, use paper cut-outs, or even cut letters from a magazine like a movie kidnap note. Treat your titles like an arts and craft project. Again, make sure to emphasize legibility. The most interesting titles in the world won't do much good if nobody can read them. Shoot these titles as still images and then import them onto your timeline, giving you the flexibility to adjust the length of each title shot.

    • 3

      Record audio titles. Orson Welles's famous butchered masterpiece "The Magnificant Ambersons" memorably used spoken titles at the film's conclusion. If you have only a few titles in your movie, consider having a narrator, actor, or each member of your crew speak the names and titles. Videotape or just record audio for these titles, and then import that file onto your timeline. Make sure to get a clear audio recording with good levels so your titles will be comprehensible, particularly if you are also playing any music over the titles.

    • 4

      Purchase a video title plug-in. A number of companies, including Adobe, produce title plug-in software for your video editing program that will give you a much broader range of title options. These can include 3-D titles and titles with a wide variety of motion. Be sure to make sure the plug-in is compatible with your video editing program. Many plug-in software companies offer demos, which are usually worth trying to make sure there are no technical impediments.

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