If the action takes place on the streets, but near a building or a car, what heading should you use? Is it ok to use NEAR(+ the building's name)+DAY? Or NEAR THE LAMBORGHINI? Thanks for answering!
-
Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.
How can you write this?
- Thread starter victortiti89
- Start date
Others will chime in I'm sure - I'm no published expert, my forte is camera dept. But, from what I know:
You'd use it in the Scene Heading for a place, but in the action for an object. Ie:
EXT. BANK - DAY
Joe walks out the double doors and down the many steps out of the bank. He rounds a corner into
EXT. CITY ALLEYWAY - DAY
If the bank needed to be in the shot:
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
Joe runs down the street. The bank looms in front of him.
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
The Lamborghini sits in the middle of the street.
INT. PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT
Joe slinks past a shiny, yellow Lamborghini. He pauses for a moment to look inside the window.
BANG! A bullet flies past Joe's ear. He quickly ducks behind the car.
EXT. NEAR THE BANK or EXT. NEAR THE LAMBORGHINI doesn't provide enough information for anything - is he two blocks from the bank? Is he right in front of the bank..? If he's near the Lambo, then is he also on a street? Or is he in a car dealer? Or a garage?
You'd use it in the Scene Heading for a place, but in the action for an object. Ie:
EXT. BANK - DAY
Joe walks out the double doors and down the many steps out of the bank. He rounds a corner into
EXT. CITY ALLEYWAY - DAY
If the bank needed to be in the shot:
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
Joe runs down the street. The bank looms in front of him.
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
The Lamborghini sits in the middle of the street.
INT. PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT
Joe slinks past a shiny, yellow Lamborghini. He pauses for a moment to look inside the window.
BANG! A bullet flies past Joe's ear. He quickly ducks behind the car.
EXT. NEAR THE BANK or EXT. NEAR THE LAMBORGHINI doesn't provide enough information for anything - is he two blocks from the bank? Is he right in front of the bank..? If he's near the Lambo, then is he also on a street? Or is he in a car dealer? Or a garage?
Yeah, I'd say stick with the setting, and use the car as an object. Unless the scene actually takes place IN the car.
I tend to use CAPS to imply the shot (e.g., He closes the CAR DOOR) without explicitly stating camera directions. This is just one of my stylistic thingies, but I think it's helpful.
I tend to use CAPS to imply the shot (e.g., He closes the CAR DOOR) without explicitly stating camera directions. This is just one of my stylistic thingies, but I think it's helpful.
Okay, let's put on our director head and think about the shots:
A) Joe is in the bank, he is going to exit, eye a hot woman who frowns at him and then, as he gets into his Bentley (a superior vehicle + easier to spell), she can't believe what she passed up.
INT. BANK - DAY
Joe turns away from the counter with an thick envelope, he shoves it into his inside coat pocket as he moves towards the revolving door and out onto the -
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
Joe emerges from the revolving door, strides across the pavement, a strut like Travolta, he's a nerd who... (blah, I can't be ag'ed).
He passes a HOT BIMBO - the kind who'd love a millionaire forever. He give sher his cheesy finger gun and Tom Cruise smile -
She rolls her eyes, "Yuck, nerd," her clear thought, going by her expression.
Joe crosses the road... pulls out his car key, presses the alarm button -
A BENTLEY across the road blinks, the alarm deactivated.
Joe opens the car door, cuts a smug glance back to the -
Hot Bimbo gags, can't believe that man owns that vehicle!
The Bentley pulls away from the kerb, is gone.
B) Joe is running away from some mobsters; a couple of blocks away, his girlfriend waits for him in the Bentley.
EXT. STREET - DAY
C.U.: Joe, panic-stricken, sweat on his brow -
C.U.: Mobster 1, determined.
C.U.: Mobster 2, out-of-breath, moving because he has to.
A Delivery Man carries a box... Joe runs past him, looks back -
Mobster 1 & 2 are some 20 metres behind, closing fast.
At the corner of the street, a drunk urinates up a wall... Joe flies past him... one second, two... the drunk zips up, turns to stagger away - Mobster 1 RUNS INTO HIM, they both fall down.
Mobster 2 closes in on -
Mobster 1, on his butt, holds his head, dazed.
Mobster 2 rounds the corner... TRIPS OVER THE DRUNK.
Joe looks back, slows down, whips out his phone -
INT. BENTLEY - SIMULTANEOUS
Zoe rocks out to the stereo.
Her mobile phone rings inside her handbag -
Zoe sings, head bobbing, arms in the air, the phone's ring tune UNHEARD amidst the music.
EXT. STREET - SIMULTANEOUS
Joe curses, hangs up the phone. He rests his hands on his knees, sucks in air, looks back at -
Mobster 2 is on his feet, him and the Drunk in a pushing show-down. Mobster 1 gets up, pulls out a GUN, shoots the Drunk dead.
Joe isn't about to rest any more! He digs in, runs for his life...
Okay, so bad writing aside as I tried not to concentrate on events/action lines, but let's see what I was gettting at:
Continuous: this is used when the scene changes but is with the same flow of time. This is NOT used to change camera angles or to show a lapse in time (that would be CUT TO:).
Were Joe to walk out of the Bank and is suddenly at a theme park at nighttime, I'd go from INT. BANK - DAY, to EXT. THEME PARK - NIGHT, making sure to highlight how I wanted to play with the shots in the ACTION linewhilst still at the bank scene.
Simultaneous: Used to show events happening at the same time as the scene before, only in a different location. Please note that, in the above instance, Zoe is in the Bentley out of sight to where Joe is, or else I'd have to make it CLEAR in the ACTION LINES that he can see the car (which is his destination and an important note for the character).
INT/EXT. BENTLEY: Were Joe to arrive beside the car, I'd skip from STREET to EXT. BENTLEY, with him running up to it; note that I'd only use an EXT. BENTLEY tag if I were to skip to/from an INT. BENTLEY tag, i.e. INT. Zoe rocks out, oblivious to the world
EXT. BENTLEY - SIMULTANEOUS The KILLER sneaks up on the vehicle, bloodied knife poised.
I'm not sure entire if these are the kind of things that you were hoping to learn, but hopefully others will get something from this post (if not you).
Good luck with the writing/
A) Joe is in the bank, he is going to exit, eye a hot woman who frowns at him and then, as he gets into his Bentley (a superior vehicle + easier to spell), she can't believe what she passed up.
INT. BANK - DAY
Joe turns away from the counter with an thick envelope, he shoves it into his inside coat pocket as he moves towards the revolving door and out onto the -
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
Joe emerges from the revolving door, strides across the pavement, a strut like Travolta, he's a nerd who... (blah, I can't be ag'ed).
He passes a HOT BIMBO - the kind who'd love a millionaire forever. He give sher his cheesy finger gun and Tom Cruise smile -
She rolls her eyes, "Yuck, nerd," her clear thought, going by her expression.
Joe crosses the road... pulls out his car key, presses the alarm button -
A BENTLEY across the road blinks, the alarm deactivated.
Joe opens the car door, cuts a smug glance back to the -
Hot Bimbo gags, can't believe that man owns that vehicle!
The Bentley pulls away from the kerb, is gone.
B) Joe is running away from some mobsters; a couple of blocks away, his girlfriend waits for him in the Bentley.
EXT. STREET - DAY
C.U.: Joe, panic-stricken, sweat on his brow -
C.U.: Mobster 1, determined.
C.U.: Mobster 2, out-of-breath, moving because he has to.
A Delivery Man carries a box... Joe runs past him, looks back -
Mobster 1 & 2 are some 20 metres behind, closing fast.
At the corner of the street, a drunk urinates up a wall... Joe flies past him... one second, two... the drunk zips up, turns to stagger away - Mobster 1 RUNS INTO HIM, they both fall down.
Mobster 2 closes in on -
Mobster 1, on his butt, holds his head, dazed.
Mobster 2 rounds the corner... TRIPS OVER THE DRUNK.
Joe looks back, slows down, whips out his phone -
INT. BENTLEY - SIMULTANEOUS
Zoe rocks out to the stereo.
Her mobile phone rings inside her handbag -
Zoe sings, head bobbing, arms in the air, the phone's ring tune UNHEARD amidst the music.
EXT. STREET - SIMULTANEOUS
Joe curses, hangs up the phone. He rests his hands on his knees, sucks in air, looks back at -
Mobster 2 is on his feet, him and the Drunk in a pushing show-down. Mobster 1 gets up, pulls out a GUN, shoots the Drunk dead.
Joe isn't about to rest any more! He digs in, runs for his life...
Okay, so bad writing aside as I tried not to concentrate on events/action lines, but let's see what I was gettting at:
Continuous: this is used when the scene changes but is with the same flow of time. This is NOT used to change camera angles or to show a lapse in time (that would be CUT TO:).
Were Joe to walk out of the Bank and is suddenly at a theme park at nighttime, I'd go from INT. BANK - DAY, to EXT. THEME PARK - NIGHT, making sure to highlight how I wanted to play with the shots in the ACTION linewhilst still at the bank scene.
Simultaneous: Used to show events happening at the same time as the scene before, only in a different location. Please note that, in the above instance, Zoe is in the Bentley out of sight to where Joe is, or else I'd have to make it CLEAR in the ACTION LINES that he can see the car (which is his destination and an important note for the character).
INT/EXT. BENTLEY: Were Joe to arrive beside the car, I'd skip from STREET to EXT. BENTLEY, with him running up to it; note that I'd only use an EXT. BENTLEY tag if I were to skip to/from an INT. BENTLEY tag, i.e. INT. Zoe rocks out, oblivious to the world
EXT. BENTLEY - SIMULTANEOUS The KILLER sneaks up on the vehicle, bloodied knife poised.
I'm not sure entire if these are the kind of things that you were hoping to learn, but hopefully others will get something from this post (if not you).
Good luck with the writing/
Last edited: