Use of "we"

[djbobbyrhodes]

I'm just trying to get a general consensus here.

How does everyone feel about using "we" in a script, especially a spec script?

As in: "We hear a voice gently singing... "

I've heard that it's a huge no-no, and I've also heard, that the rule is pretty much passe now, and it's no big deal.

What do you guys think?

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

I have heard its usage is outdated, a no-no. Of course if you have a great script I suppose the reader might look past it. But starting out, I would not use "We see".

.. How does everyone feel about using "we" in a script, especially a spec script?...

 

[Cassius]

Most readers want to see something a bit more creative, though I personally don't really mind. Depends if you want to convince a reader to like it or already know a movie will be made from it.

 

[Charli]

There have been many a discussions on the topic over donedealpro.com and really, it's not going to hurt your script, just tell the story as visually as you can.

 

[djbobbyrhodes]

I have heard its usage is outdated, a no-no. Of course if you have a great script I suppose the reader might look past it. But starting out, I would not use "We see".

That's what I was originally thinking too. But, I recently read scripts for The Big Lebowski and American Beauty and both of them use we.

Which has got me wondering whether it's okay for everybody or if it should be avoided by non-established writers.

 

[Jon Starr]

I guess what it comes down to is whether or not it pulls you out of the read, and if it's over-used. I don't see it bothering me, and I used to write using "we see" "we hear" etc... but I've found it just as easy to not write with it, so I don't.

I mean when you write: "Footsteps in the distance" we can just assume that's something "we hear"

 

[etrizz]

personally, i hate reading them in a script. i've always found it to be lazy and hackneyed.

 

[David W. Richardson]

That's what I was originally thinking too. But, I recently read scripts for The Big Lebowski and American Beauty and both of them use we.

But did you read the actual scripts as written by the writers? Or did you read transcripts, which is largely what you find on the web? You can usually tell if it's a transcript because it follows the actual released version of the movie -- word for word, action for action, scene for scene. Nothing left on the cutting room floor. A lot of people put 'scripts' of well known movies on the web, which are actually transcripts -- they sat down, watched the DVD, and wrote the transcript verbatim.

If you're reading transcripts, then you can't judge whether or not the original screenwriter used "we".

 

[Per-Aage Braun]

"we" is unnessesary

 

[Sad Max]

I stick with HEAR rather than 'We Hear' and SEE rather than 'We See.'

Well, actually, hardly ever need SEE, either; film being a visual medium it's usually understood that if something is being described for screen, someone's probably seeing it...

...this is what I find in the tv and feature scripts I read, too.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

I agree. Always a better way to say it without "we", and the thing with using "We see..." is that it takes the viewer out of the experience, reminds the viewer they are not so much in the story but outside of it. And it is all about a good read for the reader, hopefully to make a sale.

"we" is unnessesary

 

[Nektonic]

From what I've heard, don't use it if you are an up and coming spec writer. The reasons being that not only does "we" possibly take the reader out of the fictive spell, but it can come off as amateur and you don't want to give any reasons not matter how small, for them to PASS on your script. Obviously, if your script is dynamite but you use "we" a few times they probably won't pass because of the "we-age", but still, you don't want to give them any indication that you are not in the know, so that they don't get the idea that they can take advantage of you when it comes time to make a deal.

For established writers though it is probably fine because they can get away with a lot of things unproduced writers can't. If you absolutely must use "we" then try to only do so two or three times at most and not within the same five pages or so. Personally though, I avoid "we" like the plague. For example:

We move with the shuttle as it enters the upper atmosphere of Mars.

-- or --

The shuttle buckles and bounces as it enters the upper atmosphere of Mars.

To me, the second line implies that "we move with" the shuttle as it plummets towards Mars. Plus, the added bonus is that deleting the "we move with" frees up some space to describe the atmospheric entry in more detail with the "buckles and bounces" bit while still using almost exactly the same amount of page space.