Is it a style thang?

[nativeson]

Points for Style: I'm reading through Wimmer and Helgeland's "Salt" (Good stuff), and noticed that they flip the slug line syntax. Master shot headings go from specific to general, instead of general to specific. i.e. - INT. Soviet Gymnasium - Grozny - Day, instead of Grozny - Gymnasium - Day (Totally the opposite of trottier). Is this a new style thing or trend? Feel free to dogpile if I'm missing something obvious.

[Knaight]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I think it's just the type of thing where, as long as it's clear, it works. I write mine just like the ones you read in SALT and it never even occurred to me that it might not be standard. I've also never had anyone mention it.

Don't let this type of thing trip you up. Page count, margins, and font are important. Everything else having to do with formatting is pretty flexible.

[ATB]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I think the general rule of thumb is INT. ROOM - BUILDING - CITY - STATE - COUNTRY - WORLD - NIGHT/DAY/SUNSET/SUNRISE/ ETC.

So it's smaller to larger, essentially.

It's all about guiding the reader's mind. If you lead off with INT. PENTAGON - MAGGIE'S OFFICE - BATHROOM - DAY... What do you think your reader sees? The Pentagon. Then an office. Then an office restroom.

But shouldn't you see the restroom first? As in INT. MAGGIE'S OFFICE RESTROOM -- PENTAGON -- DAY

Begin with the room/location you're at and move out with the "master" location.

[Craig Mazin]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I actually do it the "Salt" way...

INT. OFFICE BUILDING - XEROX ROOM - MORNING

I like to go from general to specific.

No hard and fast rule.

[Bill WiggleArrow]

Re: Is it a style thang?

Ditto above. My unscientific guess would be that 80% of scripts go from general to specific. But there ain't nothing with the opposite.

[MoonHill]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I tend to do it from the "MORE IMPORTANT -> LESS IMPORTANT" way of thinking, which winds up being the Salt way, too.


Whether the scene takes place in the Xerox room or the Executive Office is slightly more critical to know than that they're both in the same company's offices, usually.


Of course, sometimes it's way more important that the scene is in Grozny than that it's in a gymnasium, but I haven't had that experience yet.

[60WordsPerHour]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I do INT - BUILDING/ROOM - DAY

So like...

INT - HOSPITAL/ROOM 25 - DAY

INT - HOSPITAL/FOYER - DAY

[finalact4]

Re: Is it a style thang?

Points for Style: I'm reading through Wimmer and Helgeland's "Salt" (Good stuff), and noticed that they flip the slug line syntax. Master shot headings go from specific to general, instead of general to specific. i.e. - INT. Soviet Gymnasium - Grozny - Day, instead of Grozny - Gymnasium - Day (Totally the opposite of trottier). Is this a new style thing or trend? Feel free to dogpile if I'm missing something obvious.

I use world to space view, so if you have several locations about a specific building that what's in common always goes first.

It's a matter of orientation for me.

INT. PENTAGON - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

EXT. PENTAGON - ROOFTOP HELOPAD - DAY

EXT. PENTAGON - PARKING LOT D - DAY

INT. PENTAGON - MAIN ENTRANCE - DAY

But if the shot is from within a helicopter, for example my sluglines might look like this:

INT. HELICOPTER - MERCY HOSPITAL - ESTABLISHING - DAY
Mainly because the location is actually moving.

INT. MERCY HOSPITAL - EMERGENCY ROOM - DAY

Good exercise to double check that you're consistent, though.
FA4

[robertcc]

Re: Is it a style thang?

INT. PENTAGON - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

EXT. PENTAGON - ROOFTOP HELOPAD - DAY

EXT. PENTAGON - PARKING LOT D - DAY

INT. PENTAGON - MAIN ENTRANCE - DAY

To clarify, for me when I write a spec, I will only use the main location once and stick with short, specific slugs until there is a change in location. I consider moving from interior to exterior a "change" so will add the main location again:

INT. PENTAGON - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

INT. GENERAL'S OFFICE - CONT.

INT. MEN'S ROOM - LATER

INT. ADMIRAL'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

INT. KITCHEN - CONT.

EXT. PENTAGON - ROOFTOP HELIPAD - MOMENTS LATER

EXT. PARKING LOT D - CONT.

INT. PENTAGON - MAIN ENTRANCE - CONT.

I cringe when I read spec scripts that read like shooting drafts. My motto is: The less gobbledygook to read in the slugs, the easier it is to follow the story.

[cshel]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I actually do it the "Salt" way...

INT. OFFICE BUILDING - XEROX ROOM - MORNING

I like to go from general to specific.

No hard and fast rule.

I'm confused. That example is the opposite of the "Salt" way, which was specific to general:

INT. GYM - CITY - DAY

Not that there's a hard and fast rule...

I do it general to specific, but I always want to be hip to any new formatting trends that all of the cool kids are using.

[karsten]

Re: Is it a style thang?

The Dark Knight trilogy scripts also go in this oddly reverse order, from specific to general,

INT. STAIRWELL, BANK - DAY

But all the style guides that I've read, and almost every other script I've encountered, prefer general to specific, which I think is much clearer:

INT. BANK - STAIRWELL - DAY

[TwoBrad Bradley]

Re: Is it a style thang?

This may or may not be important to you:

Try doing a Scene Heading sort on the two different styles. You'll get two different lists. One of which may or may not be more beneficial to you or to somebody else.

[Richmond Weems]

Re: Is it a style thang?

I swear to god, these kinds of conversations get me worrying about the wrong kind of things. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

[finalact4]

Re: Is it a style thang?

To clarify, for me when I write a spec, I will only use the main location once and stick with short, specific slugs until there is a change in location. I consider moving from interior to exterior a "change" so will add the main location again:

INT. PENTAGON - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

INT. GENERAL'S OFFICE - CONT.

INT. MEN'S ROOM - LATER

INT. ADMIRAL'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

INT. KITCHEN - CONT.

EXT. PENTAGON - ROOFTOP HELIPAD - MOMENTS LATER

EXT. PARKING LOT D - CONT.

INT. PENTAGON - MAIN ENTRANCE - CONT.

I cringe when I read spec scripts that read like shooting drafts. My motto is: The less gobbledygook to read in the slugs, the easier it is to follow the story.

Fair 'nuf, but everyone has their own style. Sluglines are used for a purpose beyond the reading experience. Though one could argue it might be important to the story that the reader understand that we're in the Pentagon parking lot and not the nearest 7-eleven.

My example implies a 'visual cue' (ie, the actual Pentagon) having to do with organizing shooting the scenes. Each of the exterior scenes would also include an image in some way of the actual Pentagon, so to me, it's important to include it in the slugline.

Anyone from DC or Virginia would know if it's the Pentagon or not. Scenes aren't always shot in the same order as the screenplay is written, so all of the exterior shots that are located at the Pentagon need to be labeled as such-- for efficiency sake-- at least that's my opinion.

Sure, sometimes it doesn't matter where the parking lot is, so that works, too. It's about clarity. Period.

Some people have strong opinions about "shooting drafts" vs "spec draft," I honestly could care less as long as it's good.

FA4

[Rhodi]

Re: Is it a style thang?

To clarify, for me when I write a spec, I will only use the main location once and stick with short, specific slugs until there is a change in location. I consider moving from interior to exterior a "change" so will add the main location again:

INT. PENTAGON - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

INT. GENERAL'S OFFICE - CONT.

INT. MEN'S ROOM - LATER

INT. ADMIRAL'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

INT. KITCHEN - CONT.

EXT. PENTAGON - ROOFTOP HELIPAD - MOMENTS LATER

EXT. PARKING LOT D - CONT.

INT. PENTAGON - MAIN ENTRANCE - CONT.

I cringe when I read spec scripts that read like shooting drafts. My motto is: The less gobbledygook to read in the slugs, the easier it is to follow the story.

I do something similar - once I've established the location with say:

INT. PENTAGON - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

If I'm staying in the Pentagon but moving between multiple locations, I'll use (kinda,sorta) minislugs:

PENTAGON - BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

PENTAGON - HALLWAY - LATER

Until I leave the location, upon which I establish the new location with a proper INT. or EXT. slug.

I do this because, from my personal reading experience, there's something about starting a sentence with INT. or EXT. that seems to invite people to skip over the line entirely.