Page One: “Marathon Man” (1976)

Screenplay by William Goldman based on his novel

The movie version of the opening:

A script with a title sequence. Huh. Thought that is against the rules? What gives?

First, this is a shooting script (also known as production draft). When you see an opening title sequence in a shooting script, you may assume the screenwriter is working in concert with the director to create either images to convey a sense of the director’s vision to the post-team to guide them in cutting the opening or it can be a literal shot-for-shot description of the title sequence.

Second, the screenwriter is William Goldman, the dean of contemporary American screenwriting. He could pretty much whatever he wanted in his screenplays due to his elevated status.

What does that mean for someone writing a spec script who is not of Goldman’s stature?

While there actually isn’t a rule prohibiting a title sequence in a spec script (or for that matter, a closing credit sequence), the path of least resistance is to not include one. For a script reader or development exec to open the script and see a title sequence on Page One? That’s the first impression, the writer doing something which is highly unconventional? If you choose to write one, (A) have a really good reason to do that and (B) make it as entertaining as hell.

Alternatively, you can intimate you’ve written a title sequence by opening the script with a series of images. Consider Page One of the Back to the Future script.

Compare to the movie version of the title sequence:

Reading the script, it’s easy to infer “This must be a title sequence” without writing “title sequence.”

Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story.

For more Page One posts, go here.

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