Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

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  • #31
    Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

    Originally posted by FADE IN View Post

    The terms "slug" or "slugline" and "scene caption" or "scene header" are not interchangeable. They are different things. The latter always begin with INT or EXT and include the time of day; the former do not.
    Untrue. You could find many examples of scene headers in scripts where the writer simply left out DAY/NIGHT or INT/EXT.

    A scene header is any slugline that marks a change of location, regardless of whether or not INT/EXT/DAY/NIGHT is attached.

    ETA: All scene headings are sluglines, but not all sluglines are necessarily scene headings.

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    • #32
      Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

      Originally posted by dgl View Post
      Continuous movement of the characters yes, but it was suggested that using these "minislugs" suggests camera movement as well (i.e. a tracking or Steadicam shot). To me, that's ludicrous (unless you use my first example "We follow...")
      I dunno. I see what you're saying and I see how from one perspective you're (kinda) correct, but as someone who directs and works with directors, I do have an understanding of how we/you/they read between the lines of these things, and when one reads a scene/sequence where there's a flow of contiguous activity, one naturally considers continuous coverage as an option, which in terms of blocking means 'hey, we could cover it as a steadicam shot'. It's just a discussion. I know you know what I mean and you know I know what you mean. If you see what I mean.
      "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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      • #33
        Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

        Continuous movement of the characters yes, but it was suggested that using these "minislugs" suggests camera movement as well (i.e. a tracking or Steadicam shot). To me, that's ludicrous (unless you use my first example "We follow...")
        it's not ludicrous. to some this continuous movement flows better when the camera follows the subject. it's a style and the way you write it matters. it evokes a feeling that's flowing as opposed to jumping from one room to the next.

        Untrue. You could find many examples of scene headers in scripts where the writer simply left out DAY/NIGHT or INT/EXT.

        A scene header is any slugline that marks a change of location, regardless of whether or not INT/EXT/DAY/NIGHT is attached.
        just as mini sluglines are used for different reasons the need to HAVE or NOT HAVE day or night in the scene headings is oftentimes because the lighting director needs to know this. since most indoor locations use artificial light then it's no longer necessary... whereas outdoor locations the lighting is so much more important.

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        • #34
          Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

          You're stating that leaving off INT/EXT and DAY/NIGHT to create these "minislugs" somehow conveys to the director the writer's wish that a tracking shot or Steadycam be used in filming the scene? Is that right? That the scene shouldn't be composed of individual shots, but one long, continuous shot? Is there any empirical evidence to back that up, or is this an assumption on your part?

          Just curious, but are there many scripts out there that demonstrate what you're talking about? Not just scripts that use "minislugs", but scripts that use them to convey camera motion, scripts which were then translated into film.

          I'm going through several of the big specs that are out now, and most of them use these "minislugs" very sparingly. In fact, most often they're used this way:

          We go from one location to a totally different location --

          INSIDE THE TRAIN

          or

          AT THE TICKET COUNTER

          I suppose the easiest way to go would be to find several scenes that are continuous shots through several locations and see how those scenes were written. I think you'll find that the vast majority of scene headings for these shots do contain INT/EXT. More often than not, scenes are filmed using multiple shots.

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          • #35
            Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

            the beach scene in saving private ryan
            http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_s...creenplay.html
            the mini-slugs are used for the entire scene... all the way until:

            Miller coldly glances at the dead and wounded. Then he moves
            on, leading his surviving men toward the two remaining German
            bunkers. The SOUNDS OF BIG GUNS and MACHINE GUNS FIRE
            surround him. DISSOLVE TO:

            EXT. WAR DEPARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
            back to traditional scene headings

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            • #36
              Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

              Good scene. However, none of those are scene headings. They're all shots. Angles on specific characters or objects.

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              • #37
                Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                they're mini-slugs lines... to demonstrate the point -- a continuous steadicam scene
                and then back to scene headings when they pick up and move the camera. methinks you have rocks in your head or something.

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                • #38
                  Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                  Originally posted by maralyn View Post
                  You shouldn't really worry yourself how it's going to be shot. You certainly shouldn't pre empt the use of a steadycam. You're focussing on the wrong thing if you're thinking it's up to you.
                  Why? You are writing a MOVIE, not a novel or short story. I think screenwriters sell themselves short. We as screenwriters should stop being scared to write in camera direction. If it helps tell the story in the most visual way possible, by all means put it in there. Leaving it up to the director's to figure it out leaves the script MORE open to interpretation. Which means it's more likely for the director to screw it up. I know ultimately if they're going to change, they're going to change it, but that does not mean you shouldn't do it. I understand what you're saying Maralyn, and why you're saying it, but it just seems odd that we are encouraged to ignore the fact that we are writing a motion picture. Key word here is motion. And I know camera direction in screenplays is sometimes clunky and too much can bog down a script, making it boring. All I'm saying is don't be totally against it using it, just make sure you have a GOOD reason to, and use it sparingly.
                  Excedrin Migraine. Red Bull. Fade in.

                  Sinister Scrawlings

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                  • #39
                    Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                    Oh and anytime you read "the camera glides" in a screenplay, that's a steady cam shot.
                    Excedrin Migraine. Red Bull. Fade in.

                    Sinister Scrawlings

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                    • #40
                      Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                      Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
                      they're mini-slugs lines... to demonstrate the point -- a continuous steadicam scene
                      and then back to scene headings when they pick up and move the camera. methinks you have rocks in your head or something.
                      Since your examples were what most people consider SLUGLINES, I have no idea what you're considering "minislugs." For the purpose of this discussion (hence the name of the thread), I thought we were talking about scene headings (location changes).

                      Is IN THE KITCHEN a minislug, or is THE SWARM OF LANDING CRAFT or THE MOTORMAN IS RIPPED TO BITS minislugs (The latter two from your example). Or is anything capitalized a minislug, and if so, what's so "mini" about it?

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                      • #41
                        Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                        Originally posted by RyanJackson View Post
                        Why? You are writing a MOVIE, not a novel or short story. I think screenwriters sell themselves short. We as screenwriters should stop being scared to write in camera direction. If it helps tell the story in the most visual way possible, by all means put it in there. Leaving it up to the director's to figure it out leaves the script MORE open to interpretation. Which means it's more likely for the director to screw it up. I know ultimately if they're going to change, they're going to change it, but that does not mean you shouldn't do it. I understand what you're saying Maralyn, and why you're saying it, but it just seems odd that we are encouraged to ignore the fact that we are writing a motion picture. Key word here is motion. And I know camera direction in screenplays is sometimes clunky and too much can bog down a script, making it boring. All I'm saying is don't be totally against it using it, just make sure you have a GOOD reason to, and use it sparingly.
                        I have nothing against angles and movement if it isn't intrusive. Sometimes the best thing is to write "We're flying over the city" or "From high overhead the city looks..." -- if that's what the story calls for. But the story almost never calls for PULL BACK TO REVEAL or LOW ANGLE ON or THE CAMERA PANS LEFT TO INCLUDE. Find better ways to impart the same information.

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                        • #42
                          Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                          Since your examples were what most people consider SLUGLINES, I have no idea what you're considering "minislugs." For the purpose of this discussion (hence the name of the thread), I thought we were talking about scene headings (location changes).

                          Is IN THE KITCHEN a minislug, or is THE SWARM OF LANDING CRAFT or THE MOTORMAN IS RIPPED TO BITS minislugs (The latter two from your example). Or is anything capitalized a minislug, and if so, what's so "mini" about it?
                          methinks you go out of your way to not figure this out. the discussion has evolved from the "title" of the thread. but slugs and mini-slugs are basically the same thing... they express a location change without an INT or EXT or DAY or NIGHT attached. simple as that.

                          I have nothing against angles and movement if it isn't intrusive. Sometimes the best thing is to write "We're flying over the city" or "From high overhead the city looks..." -- if that's what the story calls for. But the story almost never calls for PULL BACK TO REVEAL or LOW ANGLE ON or THE CAMERA PANS LEFT TO INCLUDE. Find better ways to impart the same information.
                          we can fly over the city seeing what looks like a swarm of ants; and then ZERO IN or SWOOP DOWN to mass hysteria or people in a panic. we can watch a comical, over-enthusiastic science teacher describe his fascination with the periodic table and PULL BACK TO REVEAL that there is only 3 bored students in the room.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                            All the examples from the opening of Saving Private Ryan after --

                            EXT. OMAHA BEACH - NORMANDY - DAY

                            -- look like SHOTS to me.

                            I think there's a reason that writers outside of this forum don't use the term "minislug". If "THE MOTORMAN IS RIPPED TO BITS", "THE SWARM OF LANDING CRAFT", and "UNDER THE OVERHANG" are all considered "minislugs", then I don't see the possibility of a workable definition. The first is used to emphasize action, the second is a SHOT, and the third is a scene heading. One tells us what's happening, the next tells us what we're seeing, and the third tells us where we are (there are only 2-3 of the latter in that scene).

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                            • #44
                              Re: Scene Headings and the SteadyCam

                              Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post

                              we can fly over the city seeing what looks like a swarm of ants; and then ZERO IN or SWOOP DOWN to mass hysteria or people in a panic. we can watch a comical, over-enthusiastic science teacher describe his fascination with the periodic table and PULL BACK TO REVEAL that there is only 3 bored students in the room.
                              Another reason to let the director pick his own shots. Maybe a reverse angle would be better for comical effect. It's certainly more common. One shot on the teacher at the blackboard, then a reverse of the class -- only three students. Otherwise, you're zooming back to reveal the back of their heads, or cutting to a wide shot to include everybody.

                              Another way to go:

                              The TEACHER furiously scratches an insanely complex equation on the blackboard, then whirls around --

                              ONLY TWO STUDENTS ARE LEFT

                              And one of them is asleep, drool dripping off his braces and pooling on his trapper-keeper.

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