Soundtrack and sequence shot

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  • Soundtrack and sequence shot

    I have two doubts:

    1) How can I write when a scene is a sequence shot?? Sequence shot, or sequence plan, or one sequence shot, or one only shot?
    Do you understand what I mean? Example "Rope" by A. Hitchcock.
    I am Italian so I don't know the perfect traslation of "PIANOSEQUENZA".

    2) Can I write in my screenplay the soundtrack of the movie?
    I know that is better don't write them, but if I can't write titles of the songs, can I write so:

    EXT. GARDEN - DAY

    MUSIC

    Alice eat.....

    END MUSIC


    INT. ..... etc etc.

    Is it possible? Or better leave music out my screenplay?

  • #2
    Re: Soundtrack and sequence shot

    1) Sequence shot
    The trick is to think of some movies that you liked, then read the scripts for them. As some people here are fond of saying, after reading 100 scripts, you'll have the answers to all your formatting questions.

    For example, here are three very different examples - from 'Outbreak' , 'Highlander' & 'Fight Club' :

    MONTAGE - EXT. COMMAND CENTER - NIGHT (23:45)
    A) In the pouring RAIN, Ford surveys the vast
    machine he's assembled:
    B) Soldiers in Chemwar gear pile boxes of body bags
    into trucks.
    C) Tractor drivers REV their ENGINES and THUNDER
    forward to the front line of Chinooks carrying
    the poison gas.
    D) Corpsmen check their watches and flash their
    signal lights.
    E) The CHINOOKS THUNDER into the air.
    MONTAGE: HEATHER GROWING OLD
    MacLeod and Heather leave Jedburgh and move east, settling on a farm outside Montrose.

    Years become decades. She changes. Her youth fades. MacLeod is with her constantly.

    Breathing her last, she lies in his arms, clutching a sheepskin doll. She strokes his ageless cheek.

    MONTAGE DAY & NIGHT: "WELCOME TO" AIRPORT SIGNS Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles

    FACES bruised, smiling, tight lipped

    JACK (V.O.)
    In every city, I branched out from
    the apirport to downtown and checked
    bars. There was always a fight club.
    Tyler was setting up franchises, all
    over the country.
    2) Using Music
    To quote from: http://www.teako170.com/faq2.html

    From a copyright standpoint, there is nothing to stop you from putting a famous song in your screenplay. However, it is rarely a good idea. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' may not speak to your reader the same way it speaks to you. Moreover, it is hard to keep a song in the foreground of the reader's mind -- you can't play a song in the background of a written scene. Break this rule and you will seem unprofessional.

    The exception would be where the song itself is in the foreground of the scene -- where the song is part of the point of the scene. I put Woody Guthrie's song "Pretty Boy Floyd," words and all, into a driving scene. The script was about Charles "Pretty Boy Floyd," and the point of the scene was that Pretty Boy was listening to a song on the radio about himself. He knew he was becoming famous.
    You may want to include "background music" if it is actually playing in the scene itself and contributes to the ambience: "A tinny radio plays surf music." "The cradle is empty except for the tape recorder, still eerily playing the Barney song." You should never tell us about the score, the music written to underly the scene and amplify its emotional impact. Never tell us the music swells at a certain point. If your scene isn't romantic enough, telling us it has great music under it won't convince us or save the scene.
    Good luck,

    Mac
    Last edited by Mac H.; 04-09-2007, 02:12 AM.
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    • #3
      Re: Soundtrack and sequence shot

      Ok, as I thought!!
      Thank you very much Mac! ;-)
      This is a good advice!
      :-)

      I Italy we have big and famous international director but noone knows all these screenplay rules!!
      But I think it is better your american rules, is very professional.
      A professional italian screenwriter don't knows anything about screenplay's rules.
      :-)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Soundtrack and sequence shot

        Originally posted by Mac H. View Post
        1) Sequence shot
        The trick is to think of some movies that you liked, then read the scripts for them. As some people here are fond of saying, after reading 100 scripts, you'll have the answers to all your formatting questions.

        For example, here are three very different examples - from 'Outbreak' , 'Highlander' & 'Fight Club' :
        Mac

        Sorry....
        I understund now that you didn't understood me...
        For SEQUENCE SHOT I don't mean MONTAGE, but a scene without editing, without cutting, understund me?
        Like first scene of Snake Eyes by de Palma, remember it?
        Like Rope by A. Hitchcock.
        Is it correct sequence shot in english? Or it is sequence plan, sequence one shot, only one shot?

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        • #5
          Re: Soundtrack and sequence shot

          I think I know what you mean now. Like the magnificent scene without cutaways in the middle of "Children of Men". (Yeah, I know it was several different shots CGI'd together, but it looked great)

          The first 8 minutes of 'The Player' was also like that. They even combined 'INT' & 'EXT' shots through windows without cutting away.

          Woody Allen seemed fond of it too - but for the life of me I can't think of a single example right now.

          They are sometimes called 'tracking shots'. I'd be tempted simply to write it as a scene with mini slugs, and let the director use their own style. (After all, the director may not want to blow a large chunk of the budget on it)

          Have a great day,

          Mac
          New blogposts:
          *Followup - Seeking Investors in all the wrong places
          *Preselling your film - Learning from the Experts
          *Getting your indie film onto iTunes
          *Case Study - Estimating Film profits

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Soundtrack and sequence shot

            Originally posted by Mac H. View Post
            I think I know what you mean now. Like the magnificent scene without cutaways in the middle of "Children of Men". (Yeah, I know it was several different shots CGI'd together, but it looked great)

            The first 8 minutes of 'The Player' was also like that. They even combined 'INT' & 'EXT' shots through windows without cutting away.

            Woody Allen seemed fond of it too - but for the life of me I can't think of a single example right now.

            They are sometimes called 'tracking shots'. I'd be tempted simply to write it as a scene with mini slugs, and let the director use their own style. (After all, the director may not want to blow a large chunk of the budget on it)

            Have a great day,

            Mac
            Yes Children of Men is correct, in this film there is a sequence shot. But are not called tracking shot...
            Tracking shot is a kind of shot, sequence shot is other.
            I can't find a good traslation.

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