PULL BACK to reveal:ĭotty opens the front door and lets herself in.ĥ. PULL BACK to reveal Dotty opening the front door of Frank's house. For practical reasons (namely, that production personnel need a new master shot heading to go with the new location), a new shot heading is added. Other common camera moves that don't logically warrant new shot headings include RACK FOCUS TO, TILT or PAN TO REVEAL and ZOOM or TRACK TO.Īn important exception to this rule occurs when we start on a closeup or an extreme closeup and pull back to reveal that we're in a whole new location. PAN TO Ensign Menendez, leading in a fresh contingent of men to join the fight. They know that at this depth, they're fighting for their lives. The pan is really just a camera move within the existing shot and shouldn't logically be given a new shot heading. Leading in a fresh contingent of men to join the fight. Sometimes writers set up as a shot heading what is really just a movement of the camera. Don't add a shot heading where there is no new shot. Similarly, after an EXTREME CLOSEUP ON GNAT'S LITTLE TOE, logic requires a new shot heading before the expanse of the Grand Canyon may appear on screen.Ĥ. For example, after the shot heading WILMA'S POV, a new shot heading, such as BACK TO SCENE, is logically required before Wilma can appear again on screen. Sometimes plain logic requires a new shot heading. Add shot headings when logic requires it. Add shot headings of the more visually specific sort only when you have a compelling visual reason for doing so.ģ. At other times, say in an ordinary dialogue scene between two characters, it might not be necessary to call attention to any particular visual detail and only the initial master shot heading is required. If visual attention must be focused very specifically on a small object or detail, an extreme close shot serves precisely that purpose and is appropriate and justified. Shot headings are one of the essential tools for accomplishing this task. Add shot headings when necessary for the visual telling of the story.Īmong the screenwriter's tasks is creating the visual experience of the screen story in the imagination of the reader. He climbs painfully to the ground and looks up at the stars.Ģ. The old guys pours himself a cup of coffee and steps outside. We're missing a shot heading that accounts for Josiah's movement from an interior location to an exterior one, which may be shot at a completely different time and place. He climbs painfully to the ground and looks up at the stars. The old guy pours himself a cup of coffee and steps outside. Writers sometimes get into trouble when a character moves from one location to another. OVAL OFFICE - 90 MINUTES LATER or SAME -90 MINUTES LATER. We need a new shot heading, something like this: INT. Now let's say we're in the Oval Office, then we cut to another scene in the same location, but it's 90 minutes later. We would need a new shot heading along these lines: EXT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY), and then cut outside to the Lincoln Memorial. Let's say we're inside the Oval Office ( INT. Insert a shot heading when there is a change in location or time. Three rules of thumb provide guidance here:ġ. In general, insert a new shot heading only when necessary. Too few shot headings leave the reader confused and create headaches when production approaches. Too many shot headings clutter a screenplay and can make a writer appear amateurish. Including too many shot headings or too few often creates problems for writers and readers alike. How to decide when to create a new shot heading WHITE HOUSE - SOUTH LAWN - CLOSE ON CNN CORRESPONDENT - SUNSET (MARCH 15, 1999) It comes from my book The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style.Īlso called scene headings and slug lines, shot headings can provide a wide variety of information about a given scene or shot. Here's some insider know-how that will give you the ability to use shot headings to your advantage. More than that, it will empower us to harness the power of shot headings to propel readers through pages that would otherwise bog down - or might not get read at all.ĭuring my years managing the script processing department at Warner Bros., and in the years since then when I've made my living as a film and television writer and as a teacher of writers, I've found that we too often struggle against script format, rather than making it work for us. Or at least we want our scripts to make us look that way.Ī little knowledge about how the pros use shot headings will go a long way toward equipping us to make a professional impression with every page we write. We worry about getting it wrong, because we're professionals. We've all heard the warning against overwriting our screenplays by including too much camera direction or too many slug lines.
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