The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

[Polanski]

I'm a little confused...
I'm reading "M. Night Shyamalan's the sixth sense" script
and I have found the word "Beat" many times in this script.
I know "beat" has a lot of different meanings, but I have never seen
this use before. What is the real meaning in this case?

ANNA
Do you know how important this is?
This is big time.
(beat)
I'm going to read it for you,
doctor.

Beat. The power of the words sobers the two of them.
ANNA
Wow. They called you their son.

Thanks

[Deus Ex Machine]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

BEAT, as it is being used here, means: "Pause for dramatic effect".

Beat can also be used when discussing a story to mean a dramatic moment.

[amandag]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I think it means "pause".

[Hairy Lime]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I loathe the use of "beat" in scripts. But that's just me. And who am I?

[iDV8]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I have noticed the use more in Theater. I'm also not a fan of it. It seems to be the kind of direction from a writer that directors and actors don't like. It makes more sense if the writer is the director and he is giving the direction. I tend to use something else that gives the same sence of pause but is more... covert. I call it "dot, dot, dot."

[English Dave]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

He's a writer/director. He was directing both himself and the reader.

The Sixth Sense is IMO a very reader friendly script.

[Kwvillen]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I use beats. Sometimes I'll:

The dramatic beat of a seasoned professional:

ACTOR
Blah, blah...

OR:

A long beat
Short beat
Here a beat, there a beat, everywhere a beat beat.

I don't go beat crazy, like seriously, but whatever... I like to use them and I don't want to hear any crap from anyone, like: You could have had your character twirl her hair and snap gum to show some depth. Eh, no. Heh. You know the age old debate that DDers love to pontificate about. To beat or not to beat - off.

Just ignore all of the above. I'm not on medication or drunk, but I would like to use both excuses. I'm entitled.

KWV

[PhantomRep]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

When I teach acting, "beat" in a script confuses beginning students until they get used to it. When we teach them "beats" as in the rythym of the dialogue, they then get confused when "beat" appears in a script.

Beat is a little less than pause, and is done, as Deus says, for dramatic effect. You find it in comic scripts more often than Dramatic ones, as it is used to accentuate punchlines.

Some stage dramatists such as Susan Lori Parks have taken to implementing more complex descriptions, almost like musical notation.

For instance she will place a symbol like ll to indicate that after the line, the character will take a pause to connect, wordlessly, with the other actor. This can be multiplied, for example:

A: Did you steal it?

B: I was nowhere near it...

A: ll

B: ll

A: You did, didn't you.

By the way, this is not screenwriting acceptable, but is becoming increasingly prevalent in plays.

[Jake Schuster]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

Stoppard uses "beat" quite a lot, I seem to remember. The great master of the pause, though, is Pinter, who in rehearsals will stop an actor: "No, no. That was a 'pause'; I distinctly asked for 'silence'."

[Biohazard]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I use it, but only several times per script.

The Sixth Sense has more beats than a Pete Sandoval drum solo. (check out track 13, Drum Check, from Morbid Angel's Heretic album.)

[Pipe]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

I've never used it.

Beat.

Well, maybe once or twice.

[ShaneBlackFan]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

Everyone, read the Basic Instinct script

[TwoBrad Bradley]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

The only time "beat- means to pause is when that was the writer's intent. In most cases, especially when specified by a pro, the reason is not so superficial.

In the dialogue example "beat- can be used to indicate a shift (though slight) in direction/drama/delivery of the dialogue. Imagine Anna is excited to do the read. Read the example again. This time put a "normal- pause between the first two sentences. Then, with even a shorter pause read the last sentence more quickly and with a bit of excitement.

ANNA
Do you know how important this is?
This is big time.
(beat)
I'm going to read it for you,
doctor.

The action example is curious because the sentence after the "beat- seems redundant.

Beat. The power of the words sobers the two of them.

[Hairy Lime]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

2brad. I find that example too ambiguous. You can't rely on the reader to find that subtletly. It's certainly not on the page. In that example I'd use a parenthetical to convey the change in cadence/tone.

(excitedly)

[Jcorona]

Re: The Word "Beat" In Scripts...

The only times I use beat is when someone's speaking into the phone and he pauses to let the other person on the other end of the line speak and we can't hear what the other person is saying. Then back to my guy.

Of course, my way is just my way.

Corona