Slugline variation. Is this becoming a standard?

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

From the shooting script of "Collateral":

INT. HOTEL, PENTHOUSE - SYLVESTER CLARKE

crosses towards the front door.

_____________

Putting the character featured in the scene in the slugline saves space, but has anyone seen this before?

Just curious.8o

[DUCPHO]

Jake... I never have, but then I was recently informed, on these very boards, that when dealing specifically with a television set, the (V.O.) you would customarily use for any voice transmission over the set was no longer indicated in "only" that way. It impacted "no other" associated (V.O.) conventions... just a television!

This freaked me out, especially when I saw it in print by Cole/Haag, etc. How could such a a formatting addendum escape me I asked?

Then it dawned on me, hit me more like a lightning bolt... there are no fixed conventions because the craft element of the trade just naturally evolves over time and is fluid... perhaps even cyclical... damn Buddhists!|I

We don't define the craft... the craft defines us!:lol

[captain bligh]

i've seen it in scripts from the forties and fifties, at which time i think it was standard, but never before -- i guess, with the exception of collateral -- have i seen it in a recent screenplay.

[Deus Ex Machine]

Jake, I have seen scripts with the inclusion of the character in the slug before. Off the top of my head Scott Rosenberg's Gone in 60 Seconds comes to mind.

I wouldn't say this is the shape of things to come. It's a stylistic choice made by some writers just as some choose to use mini-sluglines because they felt it was the best way to express their story.

The primary function of format is clarity. At a glance you can clearly tell what is being said, what is being done and where it is all happening. You can manipulate format to serve your story so long as it contributes to the clarity and doesn't confuse it. Because it is so easy to confound the reader with aberrant formatting it's safest to use standard formatting practices.

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

I agree, Deus, that we should stick to the standard--at least till we get to be rich and famous and influential. But I found as I was reading "Collateral" (and how much remains of the original script after Darabont and Mann took their passes at it?) that it flowed in a very nice way. May be due to simply good economical writing; but the slugline may have helped, as well.

Thanks for the replies, all!

[Ravenlocks01]

It looks to me like Sylvester Clarke is the time of day. I hope nobody who uses this stylistic convention has any characters named Day or Dawn or the like.

:p

[Manilow in Blue]

Maybe because it's a shooting script. That makes the shot clear.

INT. HOTEL, PENTHOUSE - SYLVESTER CLARKE


It isn't a shot of the hotel penthouse with Sylvester Clark entering the shot. It's Sylvester Clark in the penthouse crossing the room.

I kind of like it.

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

It makes for a very smooth read (at least in "Collateral"). Not sure I'm ready to use it myself, though.

[dean461]

I don't know about anyone else but when I read a script I tend to just skip the slugline. This could maybe affect the readers who might do the same.

Also can you please tell me where you got the Collateral script? I loved the movie and would like to check it out. Thanks.

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

"Collateral" script. (http://www.simplyscripts.com/cgi-bin/search.pl?search=collateral&method=exact)
:)