I haven't been able to find a definitive answer about the best way to do this, so I hope someone can help!
My current script has quite a bit of "video footage," i.e. security cameras, webcams, streaming newscasts.
In several cases, I want to start by showing, for example, someone watching video of an interrogation, but then zoom in and have that footage take up the entire screen, with the background no longer there. In other cases, I want the opposite, starting with a newscast that fills the whole screen and then pulling back to show the person watching it.
I have used CLOSE ON and PULL BACK TO REVEAL before, but these situations don't seem quite the same, since the video, for a time, is becoming the whole movie, as opposed to showing a close-up of a photo or something. Also, especially for the scenes that start within the video, I'm not quite sure how to indicate that I want it to clearly look like video rather than film.
Here's what I've done (and I'm especially nervous about those parentheses within the descriptive block);
INT. FORD GALAXIE - DAY
A laptop sits open on the back seat playing a video. It slowly fills the screen:
INT. CALLA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT (ON VIDEO)
(Seen from POV of webcam sitting on the desk) Calla types furiously.
My current script has quite a bit of "video footage," i.e. security cameras, webcams, streaming newscasts.
In several cases, I want to start by showing, for example, someone watching video of an interrogation, but then zoom in and have that footage take up the entire screen, with the background no longer there. In other cases, I want the opposite, starting with a newscast that fills the whole screen and then pulling back to show the person watching it.
I have used CLOSE ON and PULL BACK TO REVEAL before, but these situations don't seem quite the same, since the video, for a time, is becoming the whole movie, as opposed to showing a close-up of a photo or something. Also, especially for the scenes that start within the video, I'm not quite sure how to indicate that I want it to clearly look like video rather than film.
Here's what I've done (and I'm especially nervous about those parentheses within the descriptive block);
INT. FORD GALAXIE - DAY
A laptop sits open on the back seat playing a video. It slowly fills the screen:
INT. CALLA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT (ON VIDEO)
(Seen from POV of webcam sitting on the desk) Calla types furiously.
Comment