Are the words, "CUT TO" necessary in a screenplay?

Kid_Filmmaker

Kid_Filmmaker

Active member
If you are writing a screenplay of which you are planning to direct and co-produce and make yourself, does it matter if you put the words: "CUT TO" in the script to separate one scene from the other? Also, I always thought you were supposed to put the words, "CUT TO" in the screenplay, because that's what you were supposed to put, so when actors or crew members read the script, they'll know they have to cut from one scene to the next and the next and so on. Am I right or wrong?
 
Never use it. In screenwriting CUT TO is the idelible mark of an amateur.

Beyond the fact that it's the ultimate no-**** of formatting (it's understood), it disrupts the flow of the read. Try to limit yourself to master scene headings and leave it at that -- your script will be much cleaner and more confident.

Incidentally, if you want a text that'll answer all of your formatting questions pick up a copy of David Trottier's Screenwriting Bible. He takes on just about every sticky, confusing issue you'll ever come up against.

Hope this helps.
 
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The fact that you are going into another scene is already an implied CUT TO:

INT. OFFICE - DAY

Joe types on his computer.

EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY

Joe steps out of the rotating door followed by dozens of OTHER WORKERS who move much faster than him.

----

In above scenario, CUT TO: would not add to the sequence. An Editor is going to make a cut to the Exterior shot regardless if CUT TO: is present in the script. The reader is aware of new location, etc.

Perhaps William M. might be able to give an example of a particular scenario in which a CUT TO: would be appropriate but it certainly isn't commonly needed in a screenplay.

-M
 
ideafarm said:
Never use it. In screenwriting CUT TO is the idelible mark of an amateur.

Beyond the fact that it's the ultimate no-s*%t of formatting (it's understood), it disrupts the flow of the read. Try to limit yourself to master scene headings and leave it at that -- your script will be much cleaner and more confident.

Incidentally, if you want a text that'll answer all of your formatting questions pick up a copy of David Trottier's Screenwriting Bible. He takes on just about every sticky, confusing issue you'll ever come up against.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Martay said:
The fact that you are going into another scene is already an implied CUT TO:

INT. OFFICE - DAY

Joe types on his computer.

EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY

Joe steps out of the rotating door followed by dozens of OTHER WORKERS who move much faster than him.

----

In above scenario, CUT TO: would not add to the sequence. An Editor is going to make a cut to the Exterior shot regardless if CUT TO: is present in the script. The reader is aware of new location, etc.

Perhaps William M. might be able to give an example of a particular scenario in which a CUT TO: would be appropriate but it certainly isn't commonly needed in a screenplay.

-M
Click to expand...


Wow, alright, that truly helps clear up my confusion, thanks so much for the replies....
 
I've broken sentences up with a hyphen, as in:

INT. CABIN DAY

John, 40ish, sits at his desk. He turns at the sound of CLATTERING metal.

John goes to the window, pulls back the drapes and spies -

EXT. SNOWY WOODS DAY

- a pack of three light Wolves, rummaging through the garbage.

It can help the flow. A reader needs to get into the story, without getting bogged down in Dissolve, Cut, Fade.
Those are just mechanics, and the director and the editor may decide to do it differently anyway.
 
What KurtF said.

Anything that helps the flow, whatever you can do to seamlessly play the movie in the reader's mind, use it. KurtF's excerpt is a perfect example.

As for Goldman, his creative use of non-slugline sluglines worked like crazy to pull the reader down the page with a pace and rhythm you could never get from by-the-book formatting. Hey, if you can sucessfully break the rules in the service of smoother storytelling and direct the reader's eye, why not? The goal is a good reading experience. There are any number of great scripts out there that the great guardians of the conventions of format would frown upon.

Still, good practice -- especially if you're just starting out -- is to get to know the rules before you break them.
 
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