Transitioning between scenes

[ShariMacD]

An ex-Hollywood reader recently read my script and told me I need to work on my transitions between scenes, because she thinks they're too abrupt. But all the scripts I've been reading also have pretty abrupt transitions. Dialogue. Action. And then on to the next scene, without needing to bridge scenes with much, if with anything at all.

She's not talking about "Cut to," etc. She means sort of the image you end on as the scene comes to a close, which might be related to how the next scene opens, for example. She worked in Hollywood maybe 10 years ago, I think. Is this an old way of doing it?

On one hand, I don't want to have transitions that are too abrupt. But I also don't want to add anything that's unnecessary, or could be considered fluff.

I keep trying to research this subject here and elsewhere online, but searching for "transitions" just leads me to info about "Fade to," etc., and that's really not what I'm talking about here. Any advice?

Shari

[Joaneasley]

Match cuts are good, (like when the bubbles in a champagne glass in one scene become the bubbles in a bubblebath in the next) but I don't think you need to use them every time.

Maybe you need more readers to see if others feel your transitions are too abrupt. Perhaps it means your script feels episodic, with a lot of separate scenes that don't feel like there's a lot of progression from one to the next. It feels like they could be in any order rather than building off each other and moving forward.

If so, maybe you would benefit from using the sequence structure, where you divide your script into sequences. In each sequence, your protagonist pursues a mini-goal that leads into the next mini-goal. That way, one scene logically follows the next in the protag's struggle to achieve each successive mini-goal, building toward the overall goal. Or maybe that's not the case at all. Just a guess.

[Slappynipsy]

Huh, weird criticism... Could you show us an example in the script? I'd be curious to see it.

[Robot17]

Yes. I know exactly what she's talking about (I think). This is actually a very nuanced observation and speaks well for the attention she paid to the material.

If you look on your post 5-9 you'll see that almost all of the scene transitions are matching shots of Sophia (as opposed to what Joan is saying) with very little variation or set up for the new scene. Over the course of the script they will clang just as if they would if you're watching it in the theater or TV.

I suggest you go through and read only the begining and end of each scene to make sure they are modulated enough to be different and establish visually that we're somewhere new. You don't have to over-do it but just enough changes in shots, settings, characters etc. to be different.

You'll probably notice the difference quickly and that will be the end of that!

Any other notes?

Bot

Added: This is also probably what happens with people who are used to skimming slugs.

[ShariMacD]

Very helpful. Thanks, everybody.


Any other notes?


Main notes were to:
• simplify/condense some characters (too many revolutionaries to keep track of): i.e., make sure I err on the side of story, and not on the side of historical accuracy :)
• working on transitions (as noted above)
• clarify some character motivations
• work on tone (In my last revision, I pared things back a bit too much, so I'm trying to add back in a little more evocative language throughout.)
--and--
• make sure everything can be seen visually (some of this, but not all, related to transitions)

So, that's what I'm working on in version #4! Nothing she suggested seems impossible. I just need to get in there and DO it, which I'm working on now.

Thanks very much, everyone!

Shari

[wcmartell]

The Flow and The Throw....

Every scene needs to lead logically to the next scene - there needs to be a flow to the screenplay. If the scene that follows doesn't seem like it belongs there - if it is not the next thing that logically happens, or a result if the scene before it - it is jarring. You think maybe someone left out a page.

Here's a tip on flow...http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip93.htm

What you want to do is make sure each scene logically follows the one before it, and if there are any rough spots in your script, smooth them out. You can do that with "match cuts" (visual or verbal links between the end of one scene and the start of the next) or by making sure it is *clear* why the next scene has grown from this one. You want the script to flow - anything that brings the script to a stop... well, that gives the reader a good reason to stop reading.

- Bill

[ShariMacD]

Wow. Incredibly helpful. Thank you so much! You guys are great.

Shari

[Script a Wish]

The Flow and The Throw....

Every scene needs to lead logically to the next scene - there needs to be a flow to the screenplay. If the scene that follows doesn't seem like it belongs there - if it is not the next thing that logically happens, or a result if the scene before it - it is jarring. You think maybe someone left out a page.

Here's a tip on flow...http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip93.htm

What you want to do is make sure each scene logically follows the one before it, and if there are any rough spots in your script, smooth them out. You can do that with "match cuts" (visual or verbal links between the end of one scene and the start of the next) or by making sure it is *clear* why the next scene has grown from this one. You want the script to flow - anything that brings the script to a stop... well, that gives the reader a good reason to stop reading.

- Bill

Great article, Bill. I actually had never read that before. Thanks!

[TwoBrad Bradley]

This happens and so ... this happens and so ... this happens and so ...

[sherbetbizarre]

I just saw a "match-cut" heavy film - Friday the 13th part VI: Jason Lives! :eek: