Let's say that you have a long, continuous scene set in one location, and that you feel it best to break this scene up into two or three bits, both for variety and to keep the audience in mind that other things are going on at the same time.
Do you have to give the complete list of characters every time you revisit the scene, if there are many characters involved? Or is there some shorter way to indicate that the scene picks up with the same group that was there before, when the scene left off?
Here's what I mean.
Scene 1 (First Location):
Characters A, B, C, D, E and F are involved.
Scene 2 (Second Location):
Other characters.
Scene 3 (First Location):
Picks up where Scene 1 left off. Same characters: A, B, C, D, E and F.
Scene 4 (Third Location):
Other characters.
Scene 5 (First Location):
Picks up where Scene 3 left off. Same characters: A, B, C, D, E and F.
In such a case, in scenes 1, 3 and 5, in the first action line beneath the scene heading, do you have to write out the names of every character (A, B, C, D, E and F) all three times? It can be a long list to repeat.
Or is there some kind of shorthand that's accepted in these cases, like writing "Same characters as previously," or some such, once the slug identifies the location?
Do you have to give the complete list of characters every time you revisit the scene, if there are many characters involved? Or is there some shorter way to indicate that the scene picks up with the same group that was there before, when the scene left off?
Here's what I mean.
Scene 1 (First Location):
Characters A, B, C, D, E and F are involved.
Scene 2 (Second Location):
Other characters.
Scene 3 (First Location):
Picks up where Scene 1 left off. Same characters: A, B, C, D, E and F.
Scene 4 (Third Location):
Other characters.
Scene 5 (First Location):
Picks up where Scene 3 left off. Same characters: A, B, C, D, E and F.
In such a case, in scenes 1, 3 and 5, in the first action line beneath the scene heading, do you have to write out the names of every character (A, B, C, D, E and F) all three times? It can be a long list to repeat.
Or is there some kind of shorthand that's accepted in these cases, like writing "Same characters as previously," or some such, once the slug identifies the location?
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