Scene Headings

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  • #16
    Re: Scene Headings

    Originally posted by altoption View Post
    The use of a MINI SLUG implies a cut.
    I shoulda written: The first Bathroom scene implies...not infers.

    Did you mean a MINI SLUG implies a shot?

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    • #17
      Re: Scene Headings

      one seven, BDZ deserves credit for that line.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Scene Headings

        Originally posted by jonpiper View Post
        I shoulda written: The first Bathroom scene implies...not infers.

        Did you mean a MINI SLUG implies a shot?

        Duuuude

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        • #19
          Re: Scene Headings

          Originally posted by DirtyDays View Post
          Duuuude


          Sorry. I've written so much ****, I'm not sure which you are confused about. Seriously, where do we begin??

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          • #20
            Re: Scene Headings

            Credit to BDZ. That wink from Pops had me in stitches.

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            • #21
              Re: Scene Headings

              It's not necessarily better or worse to play the scene from the hallway where we see the actor duck into the bathroom or as several shots where we move from the hallway into the bathroom with the actor. It depends on the writer's intent.

              Here's an example from THE HANGOVER where the writers decided to play the entire scene from a hotel suite and never go into the bathroom:

              VICK
              Your hair, dude. You have a mullet.

              Stu touches his hair. Then he stumbles into the bathroom.

              After a beat, we hear his voice:

              STU (O.S.)

              Dude...I have a mullet.

              Then we hear ALAN'S VOICE in the bathroom, groggy:


              ALAN (O.S.)

              Just give me ten more minutes,
              Beck...

              STU (O.S.)

              Whoa, did you sleep in the tub?

              Beat, then Stu pokes his head out of the bathroom.


              STU (CONT'D)

              Check it out: Alan slept in the
              tub.

              VICK

              Get him up. I'm hungry.

              Stu disappears back into the bathroom. We hear the SHOWER

              turn on. Beat. Then we hear Alan slowly awaken:

              ALAN (O.S.)

              Wet. Water. Jesus, what's--?!

              There's a THUD as Alan falls out of tub. Beat.

              Then Stu and a very confused, very hungover, very wet Alan
              stumble out of the bathroom.

              Point being, you could, and should know how to, write it either way depending on what you want to achieve. More movement isn't always better.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Scene Headings

                I agree in that I think how you write can imply where the camera is and where the cut is. To me, a slug or mini slug implies a new shot.

                INT. HOUSE, HALLWAY - DAY

                A dog lies on the floor looking bored shitless. Sarah passes
                it on her way to bathroom. Leaves the door open as she drops
                her panties and sits on the toilet. BADOOSH.

                SARAH
                Oh yeah, that was a big one.

                We then hear lots of tiny little SPLASHES followed by a small fart.
                Sarah giggles. The dog BARKS. Sarah wafts the air.

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                • #23
                  Re: Scene Headings

                  Originally posted by odriftwood View Post
                  Mayhaps. But it's a good habit to get into especially if the goal is to make it to a production draft. The more a spec writer can write professionally from a formatting stand point, the stronger impression they will make IMHO.

                  Besides, I just went through a clean up like on a script this as the behest of a director. Rather I had it cleaned up before .....
                  Your sole objective is to get to production as a writer.

                  Writing production slugs will not help you get there one iota.

                  I have a friend who uses numbers instead of sluglines because he's tired of execs skipping slugs. So his scenes look like this (i might be off a little bit as far as how his style transitions, but you'll get the point):


                  1.
                  A little kid sneaks through a hallway. He heads right for...

                  2.
                  The bathroom where he sees his dead hamster floating in the bowl.



                  I personally am using less and less traditional sluglines (in continuous action) for the very same reason. By removing "INT. EXT." and having them build off the action/description I believe you are more likely to keep a reader's eye at all times.

                  But basically as Jeff said, your ONLY concern while speccing or writing assignments is to make it read as awesome as possible

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                  • #24
                    Re: Scene Headings

                    Originally posted by Why One View Post
                    To me, a slug or mini slug implies a new shot.
                    That's right. It's good for continuous action and it's good for placing the camera where you want it.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Scene Headings

                      Originally posted by odriftwood View Post
                      The more a spec writer can write professionally from a formatting stand point, the stronger impression they will make IMHO.
                      With who? 1st ADs?

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                      • #26
                        Re: Scene Headings

                        Originally posted by Why One View Post
                        To me, a slug or mini slug implies a new shot.
                        Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
                        That's right. It's good for continuous action and it's good for placing the camera where you want it.
                        BDZ, for years, when people have talked about placing the camera in a scene, I assumed they meant physically putting the camera in the scene.

                        Ah ha, "Placing the camera in the scene" usually means "pointing the camera at the scene". The camera could be located outside of the scene and still be shooting the scene, couldn't it?

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                        • #27
                          Re: Scene Headings

                          The scene heading tells us where we are. Usually, that means where the actors are, the subject of the scene. But in the rare cases where the actors are in a different setting from where they are being observed, the scene heading should indicate where the camera is.

                          INT. APARTMENT - DAY

                          A view out the window at the playground below. Molly sitting on the swing set by herself. Slowly rocking in the wind.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Scene Headings

                            Originally posted by altoption View Post
                            The scene heading tells us where we are. Usually, that means where the actors are, the subject of the scene. But in the rare cases where the actors are in a different setting from where they are being observed, the scene heading should indicate where the camera is.

                            INT. APARTMENT - DAY

                            A view out the window at the playground below. Molly sitting on the swing set by herself. Slowly rocking in the wind.
                            I've heard many others, including pros and gurus, say what you said: the scene heading should indicate where the camera is.

                            To me, and I'm just another struggling old screenwriter, the middle element in a scene heading tells us the location where the scene takes place. That location usually places us in the main action. Your example takes us to action outside of the APARTMENT without resorting to a new scene heading. You do it with a POV shot. The POV shot of outside the apartment may well be where the main action of the scene takes place.

                            POV shots are fairly common, but the pov shot may or may not be accomplished from a camera placed in the apartment. That's all I'm saying. The pov shot tells us what a camera sees not where the camera is placed. The scene heading tells us location not camera placement.

                            I'm not trying to beat this to death, just sharing how something seemingly simple had confused me.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Scene Headings

                              Originally posted by jonpiper View Post

                              Ah ha, "Placing the camera in the scene" usually means "pointing the camera at the scene". The camera could be located outside of the scene and still be shooting the scene, couldn't it?
                              Yeah. I didn't actually mean where the camera was, I meant what it is shooting.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Scene Headings

                                Thanks for clarifying that, BDZ. I'm easily confused. Clarity is everything.

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