What if there wasn't night?

[brodylived]

I'm writing a script that takes place in the Arctic in summer. This is the time of year when the sun stays out 24 hours a day.

Someone freaked me out by saying I should just have the time of day slug read 'DAY' all the time. That doesn't make any sense to me.

I have been using 'DAY' and 'NIGHT' as one would use in any script. I only said the sun is out in the very first night sequence.

Am I on the right track here?

[gaterooze]

The point of mentioning Day or Night in your slug is to let the reader (and eventual filmmaker-producers if you should be so lucky) VISUALIZE what the light (daylight, or dark of night) will look like for the scene it heads.

The easiest way to work this for a spec script read is to let your reader know at the start of your script, some semblance of what you wrote in your post: "Arctic in summer. This is the time of year when the sun stays out 24 hours a day." There is no darkness, even at night.

Or something similar.

Then find a way that you're comfortable throughout the script to keep that up. You could give AM or PM or actual times or whatever you wish, but you need to be sure you (& your reader) remember that 'nightlight' is wonky here.

EXT. JOEY'S ARTIC HIDEOUT - (SUNNY) NIGHT

is another possibility.

And if you move to another location (not in the same season or geographic area) keep in mind -- a concise technique not to confuse, but quickly inform your reader. That's really the name of the game -- format for clarity whenever possible. Think about the needs of your story & tweak whatever needs tweaking to work for your aims.

I'd suggest you give a check on Drew's for the script to the film INSOMNIA & see how they handled stuff along these lines.

[jimjimgrande]

why would you write NIGHT in your slug line if it's still daylight outside?

If it's always daylight - then say so in the beginning (as you did) and then don't use DAY/NIGHT for the rest of the script.

If time of day is important - you could incoroporate that into your slug somehow as long as you do it sensibly and are consistent.

You might want to check out the script for INSOMNIA and see how they handled it.

[filmcarver]

IMO a slug is a slug....its for establishing the exact location and conditions of both the story and the story in production.

In this one I would establish early on that it is in the Arctic Circle where there is no darkness in the winter, and that's that.

[JohanneKoke]

INT. PRISON DORMITORY/FUTURE - ETERNAL NIGHT

PRISON P.A. SYSTEM
--number 5429, Garcia -- number 87645, Cole...

[A Pathetic Writer]

How did they handle it in the movie Insomnia, which takes place in arctic summer?

[Deus Ex Machine]

Start off the script with a simple note.

NOTE: THE SUN NEVER SETS IN THE ARCTIC THIS TIME OF YEAR.

INT. PLACE - DAY

INT. ANOTHER PLACE - DAY

yada, yada, yada,.

Make the passage of "days" something that is organic and expressed in the drama much like showing Pachino trying to sleep at "night" in Insomnia.

My 2 cents.

[brodylived]

All good advice and all sort of along the same line. So I yeild to majority and went with the 'DAY' slug all the time. I also mentioned in the first scene in the arctic that the sun is out 24-hours a day.

Not sure what was done in Insomnia as it doesn't seem to be posted anywhere.

Thanks all!

[TheKeenGuy]

I was once writing a script that took place entirely inside windowless interiors and wher there characters had no idea when it was day or night, so I just didn't bother with DAY or NIGHT in the slugline.

But that doesn't really have anything to do with this.