Classroom in a book

Strengthening your project with titles
Consider this opening sequence: a telephoto shot of scorched desert sand with rip-
pling heat distorting the scene. Dry, desiccated, lifeless sagebrush. A lizard slowly 
seeking shade beneath a small stone. And a small plume of dust in the distance. 
That’s attention-getting stuff.
Now a narrator intones, “The summer heat beats down on the Bonneville Salt 
Flats.” That’s effective, but even better is a title: “Bonneville Salt Flats.” Then, as the 
plume of dust moves toward the camera, another super displays this text: “Speed 
Trials—Summer 2005.” Then a rocket-shaped vehicle screams across the scene.
Rather than interrupt the building suspense with a sonorous narrator, save the 
voice-over for later. Instead, use titles to set up your story.
Here are other instances in which text can be an effective alternative to voice-overs:
t
Instead of using a voice-over to say, “Sue Smith, vice president of manufacturing 
for Acme Industries,” put that information in a super at the bottom of the 
screen. This type of title is also known as a 
lower third
, because it’s positioned in 
the lower third of the screen.
t
Instead of narrating a collection of statistics, use bullet points that pop up 
on-screen with each new item.
Text strengthens your project.

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ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK
117
Changing text parameters
In this lesson, you’ll start with some formatted text and then change its parameters. 
This approach is a good way to get a quick overview of the powerful features of the 
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 Titler. Later in this lesson you’ll build basic text from scratch.
1
Start Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, and open Lesson 07-01.prproj.
2
Double-click Title Start in the Project panel.
The Titler opens with a title already loaded over a video frame. Here’s a quick 
rundown on the Titler’s panels:
Title Tools panel
Title Actions panel
Titler main panel
Title Styles panel
Title Properties panel