Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

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  • Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

    My third act is about 20 continuous scenes. Using CONTINUOUS continuously in the slugline is redundant unnecessary clutter, but wouldn't the same be true of -DAY? I know for a production script it's different, but for my spec script, to get to the cleanest, simplest format, wouldn't it be okay to exclude -DAY for these 20 scenes, or does anyone think I'll get dinged for it?

    Thanks for your comments.

  • #2
    Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

    (Usual disclaimer: I am not a professional of any kind in the film industry.)

    I hate CONTINUOUS.

    I have actually read scripts that had CONTINUOUS for scene after scene until finally the writer obviously forgot whether it was DAY or NIGHT and was making his characters do things that you could not see to do at night. Or he had moved his characters all over the place with scenes tagged as CONTINUOUS until the last "continuous" scene had no relation to the first scene in the whole series of "continuous" scenes.

    I see no reason not to use DAY or NIGHT.

    Just my opinion.

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

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    • #3
      Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

      I'm with ComicBent.

      Unless a scene actually is continuous in that it's like an unbroken tracking shot that moves from one location to another, just use day or night.

      When breaking down a script for scheduling continuous becomes a pain in the ass since consecutive scenes may be shot on entirely different days or locations and then people need to go back into the script and track back through all the continuous's until they find out if it's a sequence of day shots or night shots.

      If it's all a bunch of DAYs then you could dump that part of the slug, but again when scheduling they'll need to put that element back in. And when reading a script an experienced reader isn't distracted by the more logistical parts of the slugline.
      Steven Palmer Peterson

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      • #4
        Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

        I tend to always use DAY, NIGHT, AFTERNOON, etc.

        AS for CONTINUOS --- I use this as well, especially when there are two different locations where something important is happening and I want to make it absolutely clear that these two scenes are happening (chronologically) at the same moment in time.
        Also, if two scenes MUST happen back-to-back (to make sense in the story)\
        Obviously the viewer of the film will not physically SEE "continuous" but for the production team it's important.
        (Not to say they couldn't figure it out reading through the story but why force their brain more than it has to?)

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        • #5
          Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

          Yes, I understand the rationale for CONTINUOUS but don't like it either. I find a script easier to read with simple DAY, NIGHT slugs and the rest of the script should make it clear if it's 'continuous'. Also, doing script break-downs and scheduling is much easier with DAY/NIGHT slugs than with CONTINUOUS.
          "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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          • #6
            Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

            If it's obvious that all these scenes are happening right after one another you don't need to put any time. Just INT/EXT and the location.

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            • #7
              Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

              Sluglines are about production, and often in the screenplay stage the ability for production on a fixed budget.

              Scheduling programs like Gorilla or MM Scheduling *automatically* pull information from sluglines and print out a scheduling report. So they begin by rounding up the specific locations in the slugline and then they qualify that location by DAY or NIGHT and by INT or EXT. If you use CONTINUOUS it is neither DAY nor NIGHT and the programs have no clue whether these will be a night shoot or something shot during daylight hours... and it screws everything up. (PS: same thing with INT/EXT combination - because the INT may be on a soundstage and the EXT might be on a location on the other side of the world).

              Many folks say, "Who gives a #@##*#^##@? This isn't a production draft, this is a sales draft!" And they are right... and wrong at the same time. The problem is that eventually someone will have to conform everything for the production draft... and since it's going to happen anyway, why not just do it now? The other thing with CONTINUOUS is that a reader may lose track of whether this is DAY or NIGHT and have to flip back through the script to the last slugline that indicates whether it's dark outside that house when the guy with the gun comes out of the bushes or whether this is broad daylight... and that takes them out of the story. You want to keep them in the story until the very end. And third and maybe less likely - a producer may want to get an idea of what kind of budget this script may be, and may want to look at the schedule (to check out number of locations, how much is EXT NIGHT (which has to be lighted) and other information... and I've had that happen several times. This stuff may not matter on a studio level project (until further down the line) but on a smaller budget project the producer may want to know if making this script is even possible before they shell out any money for it. So it's nice to have that stuff already set up for the program to read.

              Now someone else with different experiences than mine will post that it doesn't matter... but that's because they haven't run into those experiences yet.

              - Bill
              Free Script Tips:
              http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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              • #8
                Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

                I've found a morale boost not to inquire too much the opinion of production people on the script - go ahead, guess what they usually think - it's really to whatever is your taste first, and then the 1st A.D.'s taste, who usually get rid of 'continuous'.

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                • #9
                  Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

                  I would only ever use CONTINUOUS if there were some stylistic element at play, such as wanting to portray an unbroken shot.

                  DAY and NIGHT, by my preference, would be used about each and every time. Sometimes when I'm reading and I hit a point where I get a bit lost or confused, glancing up at the last slugline has to parlay a good deal of information in about half a second.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

                    Originally posted by Terri View Post
                    I tend to always use DAY, NIGHT, AFTERNOON, etc.

                    AS for CONTINUOS --- I use this as well, especially when there are two different locations where something important is happening and I want to make it absolutely clear that these two scenes are happening (chronologically) at the same moment in time.
                    I've used SIMULTANEOUS when two scenes are taking place at the same time.

                    INT. JASON'S BEDROOM - DAY

                    Action and dialogue, and we break away from the scene to

                    EXT. FOREST CLEARING - DAY (SIMULTANEOUS)

                    Action and dialogue, and we break away to

                    INT. JASON'S BEDROOM - DAY (SIMULTANEOUS)

                    Continuing action and dialogue.


                    Makes it clear for the reader that the action in both scenes is taking place at the same time. I'm not sure if that affects production scheduling, but it can make for a better read.
                    Last edited by jonpiper; 10-25-2016, 02:48 PM. Reason: To add action and dialogue.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

                      I use CONTINUOUS when a scene simply moves to a nearby (different) location with the same characters where the INT and EXT need to change. If a character or two moves from inside a home to the backyard or vice versa, I break out the CONTINUOUS. Same if they're moving from inside of a car to outside of it. If it's a room-to-room movement I generally use mini-slugs like BEDROOM or whatever. Other than that, I stick to DAY or NIGHT (or more specific time of day if it's relevant) or mini-slugs.

                      It may not be perfect but seems to work and I never got called out for this being poor formatting.

                      A minor difference (in which I used to use CONTINUOUS erroneously) is a scene in two different locations that occurs simultaneously and the characters aren't moving from from location to location. Like a telephone conversation. I now tend to use an initial SAME TIME then INTERCUT WITH: and allow the phone conversation to go on without further sluglines. Again, not perfect, but it seems to be easy to follow. I like easy.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Continuous use of -DAY or -NIGHT

                        INT. JASON'S BEDROOM - DAY

                        Action and dialogue.
                        Meanwhile ...

                        EXT. FOREST CLEARING - DAY

                        Action and dialogue.
                        "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                        - Clive Barker, Galilee

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