crosscut, intercut, what?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • crosscut, intercut, what?

    Again, here is a question about how explicit I need to be.

    INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
    John and Mary are in a room, eating. Sound of a car arriving outside.
    EXT. AT THE HOUSE. DAY.
    A Volvo stops outside the house. Four armed men exit the car and walk up to the house. They bang on the front door.
    INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
    John and Mary get up.
    EXT. AT THE HOUSE. DAY.
    The four men open fire.
    INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
    John and Mary throw temselves on the floor.

    Is all of this EXT and INT necessary? Is there a more economic way to describe the quick sequence of external and internal shots?

  • #2
    Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

    My personal take, if forced to keep this intercutting structure, would be:

    INT. KITCHEN. DAY.
    John and Mary are in a room, eating. Sound of a car arriving outside.

    EXT. FRONT DOOR OF MARY'S HOUSE. DAY.
    A Volvo stops outside the house. Four armed men exit the car and walk up to the house. They bang on the front door.

    KITCHEN
    John and Mary get up.

    FRONT DOOR
    The four men open fire.

    KITCHEN
    John and Mary throw themselves on the floor.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

      Another thing... try to be consistent with the scene headers. Don't have THE HOUSE and then also AT THE HOUSE if you're referring to the same place. I know you were probably trying to indicate that it was outside of the house in front, but EXT. THE HOUSE does get the same thing across. You could also use the mini slugs like so:

      EXT. THE HOUSE - DAY

      IN THE DRIVEWAY (or IN FRONT IN THE STREET)

      Also, the convention is a space-hyphen-space, not a period: EXT. HOUSE - DAY
      Last edited by Cioccolato; 02-09-2014, 08:57 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

        Originally posted by Merlin View Post
        Again, here is a question about how explicit I need to be.

        INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
        John and Mary are in a room, eating. Sound of a car arriving outside.
        EXT. AT THE HOUSE. DAY.
        A Volvo stops outside the house. Four armed men exit the car and walk up to the house. They bang on the front door.
        INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
        John and Mary get up.
        EXT. AT THE HOUSE. DAY.
        The four men open fire.
        INT. THE HOUSE. DAY.
        John and Mary throw temselves on the floor.

        Is all of this EXT and INT necessary? Is there a more economic way to describe the quick sequence of external and internal shots?
        Well since the location is one and the same you could use:

        EXT./INT. - HOUSE - DAY
        A car pulls to the curb.

        Nancy dices tomatoes, tosses them into the pot, as:

        Four ARMED MEN exit the car, heading up the sidewalk...

        Mary pours steaming hot sauce over the pasta when

        Now another way to do it when you're in two different locations is to start with one scene with a complete slugline and action and dialogue then say

        INTERCUT WITH:

        Then list the second slugline and the action and dialogue from that scene. When the intercutting ends you can either move onto the next location or say:

        END INTERCUTTING:

        It's up to you.
        FA4
        "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

          I think in some cases you could play it fast and loose with the minislugs. I think it's okay just as long as it's clear to the reader and you have good read flow.

          INT. HOUSE - DAY

          John and Mary are practising Michael Jackson dance
          moves in the dining room when they hear a car pull up--

          OUTSIDE

          Where copyright AGENTS emerge from a Volvo with rolled
          up copyright notices. The Leader signals them to split.

          INSIDE

          John sees them through the window. He turns to Mary.
          She nods back -- knows what to do.

          THE FRONT DOOR

          Swings open. And two Agents enter. They freeze upon
          seeing--

          JOHN

          Moonwalking onto the hallway -- the Agents completely
          dazzled by what they are seeing.

          John stops and spins 20 times on the spot in 2 seconds
          before grabbing his crotch with an explosive--

          JOHN
          OW!

          Windows obliterate -- as well the Agents' ear drums and
          eyeballs...


          It's a matter of preference, IMO.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

            I'm liking WhyOne's version.

            Late Night Writer

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: crosscut, intercut, what?

              Thanks all. I like MoviePen's way of doing it. And I wish I could fit WhyOne's scene into my script, only it might constitute a copyright problem and I can't do the moonwalk :-)

              Comment

              Working...
              X