basic structure

ulisses

ulisses

Well-known member
Hello,

Sorry for the basic question...
When many scenes are in the same place / time of day, should I repeat in all scenes: INT. - ... - NIGHT ???

Thanks,
Ulisses
 
If it's a continuous sequence, no, if you changing location yes. It's what orients you to place and time.
 
ulisses said:
thanks !

the script is all inside a mall at night...

Ulisses
Click to expand...

If it was me, I'd put INT on the first slug line then after that just put

SECOND FLOOR FOOD COURT - LATER or BASEMENT PARKING AREA - CONTINUOUS or whatever. Then if they end up outside at the end or whatever, use EXT.

That's probably how I do it but it's up to you.
 
Being "all inside a mall" is no different than being "all inside a house." If you physically have to move the camera into a different room, then you start a new scene -- even if the action is continuous.

Say John and Bill are talking as they stroll from the living room to the dining room.

INT. BILL'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

John and Bill, drinks in hands, walk through the room, engrossed in a conversation.

JOHN
So you think the chicken came first?

BILL
Absolutely! How could you have an
egg before a chicken?

As they talk, John and Bill pass into the dining room

INT. BILL'S DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

JOHN
Well you can certainly have the egg
before the chicken!

BILL
How? You tell me how on God's green
Earth you can have the egg before
you have the chicken!

They push through the door into the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

John points at the refrigerator.

JOHN
All I know is, she bought the eggs
on Saturday, and didn't get the chicken
until this morning!
 
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Don't even bother putting "CONTINUOUS." Assume it is continuous until you change it.


INT. HOUSE - GARAGE - MORNING

Frank enters his car. He opens the garage door.

INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM

Lauren glances through the front window. She sees Frank pulls into the street, and drive off. Lauren backs away from the window.

I/E. FRANK'S CAR

Frank turns on the radio. Sports news.

INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM

Lauren picks up the telephone.
 
You can do it any way you want. But consider the opposite of INT. KITCHEN, EXT. KITCHEN? Doesn't make much sense to me. All the kitchens I know are inside. What matters is keeping the reader oriented. If you accomplish that, you're on the right track. Getting caught in the minutia of format is a mistake. No one agrees on format anyway so don't stress yourself out.

Regarding CONTINUOUS, some use it to indicate that two sets are used for one scene with no break in time. In other words, two lawyers chatting in the hallway and again at the court house steps, CONTINUOUS would tell the reader it's one long scene as opposed to two conversations distinct in space and time. If the dialog is strong enough, hopefully CONTINUOUS is redundant. It's just a personal choice. You can take it or leave it.
 
brianluce said:
You can do it any way you want. But consider the opposite of INT. KITCHEN, EXT. KITCHEN? Doesn't make much sense to me. All the kitchens I know are inside. What matters is keeping the reader oriented. If you accomplish that, you're on the right track. Getting caught in the minutia of format is a mistake. No one agrees on format anyway so don't stress yourself out.

Regarding CONTINUOUS, some use it to indicate that two sets are used for one scene with no break in time. In other words, two lawyers chatting in the hallway and again at the court house steps, CONTINUOUS would tell the reader it's one long scene as opposed to two conversations distinct in space and time. If the dialog is strong enough, hopefully CONTINUOUS is redundant. It's just a personal choice. You can take it or leave it.
Click to expand...
EXT is only used for exteriors, as in outdoors.

You wouldn't use EXT. KITCHEN if characters were walking out of a kitchen into another indoor location, you would have a name for that second location.

You can break indoor locations into one scene heading HOUSE, but ultimately the AD, or whoever is doing the script breakdown, is going to have to separate them into separate scene headings, because they'll be separate scenes filmed on different sets.

I dislike CONTINUOUS, because it unnecessarily clutters the page. If I'm reading a script, and I don't see a time (day / night, etc.) I just assume it is a continuous sequence. The AD will probably have to add times back in there, because the different scenes will no doubt be filmed on different days, but CONTINUOUS just distracts the eye for a split-second.
 
agcohn said:
EXT is only used for exteriors, as in outdoors.

You wouldn't use EXT. KITCHEN if characters were walking out of a kitchen into another indoor location, you would have a name for that second location.

.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm saying, INT. KITCHEN seems redundant.
 
brianluce said:
That's what I'm saying, INT. KITCHEN seems redundant.
Click to expand...
INT / EXT are important indicators for budgeting / scheduling a film. For the very same reasons, it is important to separate KITCHEN from LIVING ROOM as independent scenes. It might end up looking like one scene on screen, but when filming it is going to be two distinct sets / set-ups, filmed, quite possibly, days or even weeks apart.

KITCHEN is the name of one particular set. LIVING ROOM is another set.

Every scene in the script should be one "unit" of shooting time. If you've made one scene that covers 4 different interior locations, it is only going to be changed for the shooting script.
 
agcohn said:
INT / EXT are important indicators for budgeting / scheduling a film. For the very same reasons, it is important to separate KITCHEN from LIVING ROOM as independent scenes. It might end up looking like one scene on screen, but when filming it is going to be two distinct sets / set-ups, filmed, quite possibly, days or even weeks apart.

KITCHEN is the name of one particular set. LIVING ROOM is another set.

Every scene in the script should be one "unit" of shooting time. If you've made one scene that covers 4 different interior locations, it is only going to be changed for the shooting script.
Click to expand...

Very true. Imagine planning your shooting and not being able to simply scan the script for indoor and outdoor shots. It definitely is worth the half second it takes to type INT or EXT.
 
An I/E location allows the camera to float in these areas. This is helpful for a shot from outside the kitchen where we see through the kitchen window but hear nothing. The camera can either push through or cut into the conversation inside. It simply gives more permission to the director. This is good for cars and all sorts of situations. You could have a interior shot of a couple of people talking in a car while it drives along. With the I/E you could also then have a far away shot as the car drives along while the audience listens to the dialogue. These shots could be broken into seperate slug lines but they don't have to be that way. The I/E slug can solve these situations.
 
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