Pre-lap?

Collapse

Announcement

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

  • #16
    Re: Pre-lap?

    Originally posted by Conz View Post
    i see "we" in pro scripts all the time, but I'll continue to avoid it. i agree with prelap sounding like directing. thanks.
    I'm going to make my semi-annual pitch for screenwriting sanity.

    It's okay to do some directing on the page.

    You're trying to paint a vivid movie in your reader's mind. If you need to prelap or call a camera shot of say "we see" or call out a song or a hundred other things that make the reader see your movie, then do it.

    Whoever continually told you not to say "we see" is a quack. You should stop listening to those people completely. They're wannabes who are trying to come up with a list of rules to make themselves sound authoritative, when really they're actually harming you.

    There are no rules. Tell a great story visually. Stop worrying. A clinical, boring read is a sure way to push a career farther away.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Pre-lap?

      Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
      Whoever continually told you not to say "we see" is a quack. You should stop listening to those people completely. They're wannabes who are trying to come up with a list of rules to make themselves sound authoritative, when really they're actually harming you.
      Given that I inelegantly kicked off this recent fracas - let me say that I would never, ever claim there to be Principia Mathematica-like laws, and from what I can see anyone who tells you that there are immutable rules (besides one: entertain) is full of crap.

      Whatever works works - all I was saying is what I felt as I read a script.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Pre-lap?

        Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
        Welcome to DoneDealPro, Conz.
        thank you. great site, kinda mad it took me this long to find it

        Still torn on "we" but thanks for the advice, you obviously know more than me, so it's good to hear from ya.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Pre-lap?

          Originally posted by 60WordsPerHour View Post
          who tells you that there are immutable rules (besides one: entertain) is full of crap.
          And even that one rule is broken more often than not...

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Pre-lap?

            After hearing this discussed in last week's Scriptnotes, this is my new favorite thing.

            http://johnaugust.com/podcast

            They provide a link to here: http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-pre-lap/

            I just used my first one. Huzzah!

            Another favorite along these lines is "SOUND CROSSOVER TO:"
            "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

            Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Pre-lap?

              Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
              I'm going to make my semi-annual pitch for screenwriting sanity.

              It's okay to do some directing on the page.

              You're trying to paint a vivid movie in your reader's mind. If you need to prelap or call a camera shot of say "we see" or call out a song or a hundred other things that make the reader see your movie, then do it.

              Whoever continually told you not to say "we see" is a quack. You should stop listening to those people completely. They're wannabes who are trying to come up with a list of rules to make themselves sound authoritative, when really they're actually harming you.

              There are no rules. Tell a great story visually. Stop worrying. A clinical, boring read is a sure way to push a career farther away.
              I miss Jeff.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Pre-lap?

                Should the bit being pre-lapped relate somehow to the scene it's in?

                For example, in the Battlestar Galactica sample does it infer that Lee, commanding a squadron of vipers, is part of God's plan?

                It probably doesn't have to relate, but it's slicker if it does.
                "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                - Clive Barker, Galilee

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Pre-lap?

                  Originally posted by TwoBrad Bradley View Post
                  Should the bit being pre-lapped relate somehow to the scene it's in?

                  For example, in the Battlestar Galactica sample does it infer that Lee, commanding a squadron of vipers, is part of God's plan?

                  It probably doesn't have to relate, but it's slicker if it does.
                  it usually relates to the following scene.

                  Basically you can look at it like: you have two regular scenes (with no prelap).

                  Then you cut and paste the opening dialogue from scene 2 and paste it at the bottom of scene 1 indicating it as a (PRELAP) which then bleeds into scene 2.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Pre-lap?

                    Originally posted by bjamin View Post
                    it usually relates to the following scene.

                    Basically you can look at it like: you have two regular scenes (with no prelap).

                    Then you cut and paste the opening dialogue from scene 2 and paste it at the bottom of scene 1 indicating it as a (PRELAP) which then bleeds into scene 2.
                    Thank you. I'm pretty sure that's where the "pre" (in prelap) comes from.

                    But it's not just dialogue. Prelap works well with sounds:

                    - John is in his bedroom packing. The sound of a train is prelapped before we cut to John on the train.

                    - John is enlisting in the Army. The sound of explosions is prelapped before we cut to John on the battlefield.

                    Note that in both the prelapped sounds relate to what John is doing.

                    It just feels to me there should be a good reason for doing a prelap or we would be doing it at the end of every scene.
                    "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                    - Clive Barker, Galilee

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Pre-lap?

                      In a scene, some people are working and doing some dialogue in a forest. When finished, they gather their stuff and walk off. In the next scene, one of the persons from the forest is in a church where a choir is singing.

                      I want the music to begin just as they lift their equipment and walk off from their work. Now, is this a good way to write that?

                      ---
                      Baskets filled, the wood-gatherers walk off down the forest path.

                      (Pre-lap SOUND of chanting)

                      INT CHURCH - DAY

                      A choir is chanting.
                      ---

                      Will this make it clear that it's the same music?

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Pre-lap?

                        I think that a common way is to use PRELAP as the start of an action line, like:

                        Code:
                        PRELAP: Sound of a chanting choir.
                        
                        INT. CHURCH - DAY
                        
                        A choir is chanting.
                        In any case, that would work.

                        "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Pre-lap?

                          Originally posted by Merlin View Post
                          I want the music to begin just as they lift their equipment and walk off from their work.
                          Why?
                          "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                          - Clive Barker, Galilee

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X