EditorDude--

I'd heard that about "CUT TO:", too... but there doesn't appear to be any consensus on the subject.

Pretty much, everyone agrees that a slug line implies a CUT to a new scene or location. But, in the example above, I wanted to delay the arrival of the slug line for the purpose of a slow reveal. (I'd thought about using INT. UNKNOWN to begin and then a partial slug line (IN DARREN'S APARTMENT --) later, but it wasn't clear. It seemed clumsy... to me, at least.

So, under the circumstances, using "CUT TO:" seemed like a good choice.


I have a question about "But you can have paragraphs separated by space to suggest each shot." How does a reader differentiate between a new shot and just another "beat" in the action?

Well, you can 'only suggest' a shot by clumping together descriptive material - as is my understanding. (This is because it is the director's job - should the script reach that stage - to interpret it creatively ie storyboard it etc) But written efficiently, the writer can influence the reader the way it wants the story to be 'seen'.

Beats, on the other hand, are subtle changes, whether in dialogue, behaviour of characters or actions, changing the 'charge' of the value of the primary value of the story, that is from negative to positive (eg justice to injustice), continuously in every moment, scene, Act etc. It is what creates dramatic tension and tempo.

As such, to differentiate between the two, 'shots' are descriptive of the VISUAL between CUTs, whereas 'beats' are the dramatic over turns of the primary VALUE(s) of the STORY. Beats build scenes, scenes build sequences, which in turn bring more powerful changes with more impact than any previous prior scene. Sequences lead to an ACT climax, which is a major reversal more powerful than a sequence, and a series of ACTs is the story.

Just keep in mind shots do not equal beats eg you can have one entire shot, like Hithcock had in Rope, with lots of beats, scenes, sequences, acts etc

Saturday night...hope someone's around. I have a scene where two guys are watching a cop car out in the street. They are watching through a liquor store window. I am dealing with I/E LIQUOR STORE - FRONT WINDOW, POV, and EXT. STREET, etc...
How would this be written, I am unfamiliar with intercuts. HELLLLLLP!! Thanks.

Oh yeah...and to top it off, there is a third person who is watching the same thing sitting outside in a pickup truck. So that's two people inside watching through a window and one watching from inside a truck.

Hello,I'm a straight out of the box spec screenplay writer (Most of them are crap, I know) and I have a question for the experienced. I'm writing a movie about 4 children who grow up to be criminals, it's a crime/drama movie and I know it's been done before. Anyway, I'm having trouble knowing the total time the movie takes. The pages aren't accurate with 1 minute per page

Example:

INT. EXECUTION ROOM - MORNING:

SUPERIMPOSE:4 years later

Rob is on a bed, completely strapped on. Someone approaches him with a
lethal injection, ROB is trying to struggle, than he screams out as much
as he can.

Ok I try to redo the scene in my mind, but it still doesn't look accurate. Should I just write it as a full length script and let it fluctuate around the average time?(90 minutes)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Diaboro,

The usual page count for a drama is around 110 to 120 pages - I'd just keep it within those parameters. When (hopefully!) it comes down to actually shooting it, the director will make those kind of decisions as to how it should be filmed. Right now your main goal is to make it clear to the reader what you are trying to express - in a visual fashion - and tell an interesting story.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MJLangface,

Thanks

The problem is, this isn't your usual drama movie. This has some "movement" to it, so there is some action. I'll be rewriting this many times, so there's still some adjustments to be done.

I have a question on INTERCUT usage ...should it be written as a slug:

INTERCUT BETWEEN MEN'S POV, PARKING LOT AND I/E. PICK-UP

(can you use commas?)

OR, more like this:

INTERCUT:

MEN'S POV

PARKING LOT

I/E PICK-UP

And how much is TOO MUCH????

Thanks for helping!

I have this topic in a book somewhere but I can't find it.

I screenplay writing, how many spaces before the next word after a concluding punctuation mark?

I am using Final Draft and there are no correctional red squiggly lines under either a one space gap or a two space gap. Ex:

This is the one space gap. See?

This is the two space gap. See?

Which one is correct?

I know it varies from person to person, but in scriptwriting, is there a general rule for this? Thanks.

No rule for it. But I recommend using only one space as it could potentially make your script an entire page shorter without changing anything else in your script.

And, as we know, the shorter your script, the better. (As long as it's above 90 pages.)

quote:

Originally posted by edsas:
No rule for it. But I recommend using only one space as it could potentially make your script an entire page shorter without changing anything else in your script.

Really? It doesn't matter? I didn't know that. I always use double space just out of habit. You're right - that could save considerable space.

Yeah, I also used double spaces out of habit when I first started (it's the way they teach you in school). But my last six or seven screenplays use single space.

Here's something for you to do if you're using Final Draft. Use the search button and type in " " and replace with " " and it will automatically switch all of your double spaces to single space.

MJ, apparently this forum doesn't recognize double spaces. Notice the gap in your "one space"/"two space" post are exactly the same. And how my double and single space " " are also exactly the same.

At any rate, if you search "space-space" and replace with "space", Final Draft will do the work for you.

thank's everyone. and edsas, nice tip with the final draft there, i will try it out. have really messed around with all the different features too much, but this a good time to start.

oh yeah, good detective work on noticing this site does not recognize double spaces....

Hi, everyone.
I've been doing a lot of business traveling lately, so I've been unable to contribute.

Quick question.
Similar to A SERIES OF SHOTS, I have need for A SERIES OF PHONE CALLS... or the like... but I haven't found a great way to format it. Basically, it's a sequence of "snippets" of conversations over the course of several hours.

Currently, I use the dreaded "CUT TO:" between snippets. I'd like to find a different way a.) because "CUT TO:" is evil, and b.) it takes up a lot of space on the page.

I'd list the snippets like a SERIES OF SHOTS (with a '...' proceeding them) but there's no ACTION associated with the calls. Basically, it's a line followed by a line followed by a line and so forth. Like this:

INT. APARTMENT - DAY

Hugh paces back and forth, phone glued to his ear.

             HUGH
     blah blah blah blah blah.

                         CUT TO:

             HUGH
     blerdy blag blar blah

                         CUT TO:

             HUGH
     You get the point.
  

Thoughts?

Tuffe,

Your question brings up one of my own. What if someone is having a phone conversation while also carrying a conversation with someone in the same room? The way I have it written now we hear only one side of the phone conversation:

TED
(into the phone)
Yeah? Well, that's what you think.
(to Charlotte)
It's Bill... He's tripping out.
(into phone)
You are too! Yes, you are!
(to Charlotte)
He says he's not tripping.


It's a little longer than that (and the subject/dialogue is completely different) but that gives you the idea. It seems a little tedious but I don't know of another way to make it clear who the "TED" character is speaking to at any given time.

As far as your dilemma goes could you do something along the lines of a TIME LAPSE or would that not work? Maybe you could put something under the heading along the lines of:

INT. BILL'S HOUSE -- NIGHT

GLIMPSES OF A PHONE CONVERSATION TAKING PLACE OVER A PERIOD OF HOURS

That would probably be about the same as a SERIES OF SHOTS.

Help!!! First pitch (sort of)!

My wife and I have been working on a screenplay for a cartoon pilot for some time, and we just happened to bump into the head of the network that we want to submit to at a bar the other night. We had a very friendly convo, and he even gave us his direct email to submit our stuff. Not sure what all to send by email though. Don't want to load it down with attachments, but i do want to submit enough to make it appealing. We have a spec script, a bible of about 6 episodes, and character designs. What should be included in this first, crucial email communique?

will_e

Congrats on that bit of luck there! Very good sign that he gave you a direct email address.

What I would do is remind him who you are (maybe even put it in your subject line). Say that it was really good to meet him. And then say, "as we discussed, I have a cartoon pilot I've been working on". Briefly tell him about it again. If you already described the pilot at the bar, just give him a line or two. Very short, to jog his memory. If you haven't already been specific with what the show is about, give him a 3 or 4 line description. And that's it. Tell him you've attached the first episode and that you also have a bible written and character designs, but don't attach those. He'll ask to see the others if he likes the episode. If he doesn't like the episode and says he'll pass, then thank him for his time and ask if you may email him in the future with other projects.

Good luck!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: edsas,

Thanks so much for the advice. After much thought, that's more or less the conclusion my wife and I came to, but it's great to hear it from someone who knows more about how these things work. I'm a TOTAL newbie to all this (not so much the writing, but definitely the business).

With that said, I'm going home to submit come quitting time (jobs SO get in the way of everything, don't they?).

Send good thoughts!