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Let’s talk about the difference between FLASHBACK and FLASH. Traditional flashback plays out over a longer period of time. Put the lead-in in the slugline: INT. JIMMY’S ROOM- DAY (FLASHBACK). Be sure to tell the reader when it’s over with END FLASHBACK. A standard flashback might last a full scene, or even a sequence of scenes, as in Ray.
FLASH is shorter than a traditional flashback. We go into the character’s head for a rapid-fire glimpse of a past moment or moments. They play out in a character’s mind and we see it with them.
Here a couple of examples, the first from The Incredible Hulk:
EXT. PLATEAU OF THE GLACIER -- DAY The man has been walking a long time. He stops and looks around. Ice. Mountains behind. The green-black of the sea out in front. Not a human sign, no life at all. Except... AN ARCTIC FOX, buried almost invisible, watching. The man looks up at THE AURORA BOREALIS – eerie dancing sheets of green and purple flowing across the sky. Tighter on THE MAN’S FACE: looking up...hollowed out, haunted. MEMORY FLASH: A banshee shriek of sound. An image streaked liked a camera moved on a slow shutter. A WOMAN’S BODY on the ground, FLAMES...but we probably can’t make it out. EXT. GLACIER -- DAY THE MAN’S EYES: wide open. Anguish.
EXT. PLATEAU OF THE GLACIER -- DAY
The man has been walking a long time. He stops and looks around.
Ice. Mountains behind. The green-black of the sea out in front.
Not a human sign, no life at all. Except...
AN ARCTIC FOX, buried almost invisible, watching.
The man looks up at THE AURORA BOREALIS – eerie dancing sheets of
green and purple flowing across the sky.
Tighter on THE MAN’S FACE: looking up...hollowed out, haunted.
MEMORY FLASH:
A banshee shriek of sound. An image streaked liked a camera moved
on a slow shutter. A WOMAN’S BODY on the ground, FLAMES...but we
probably can’t make it out.
EXT. GLACIER -- DAY
THE MAN’S EYES: wide open. Anguish.
We’re on the plateau, into the man’s mind, and then back out on the plateau. The “MEMORY FLASH” lasts seconds. This is not a traditional FLASHBACK, and shouldn’t be treated so, format-wise. Here’s another, same movie:
Timecut: BANNER MEDITATING: in the lotus position, unmoving PULSE: 55 – THE SOUND OF A SLOW HEARTBEAT that RISES and SPEEDS UP MEMORY IMAGES: his mind wandering, happy memories leading to bad. - BETTY ROSS at a LAB TABLE looking up at us, smiling - BETTY and BRUCE sitting on a CAMPUS LAWN in late afternoon light with pizza; she gives him a bite and kisses him - JARRING SOUND and SURREAL IMAGE: FLAMES; a POV from 10 FEET HIGH, looking down at BODIES on the floor beneath CRUSHED AND BROKEN LAB EQUIPMENT. One of them is BETTY, a GASH in her head -GEN ROSS looking right at us, hand on our shoulder consoling; lips move but no sound comes out; intense -our POV: looking out a CURTAINED WINDOW down on a FRONT DOOR. Two MILITARY POLICE, knocking. We JERK AWAY from the window. EYES: SNAP OPEN PULSE: 89...90 He sighs and breathes deeply. He can’t clear his mind tonight.
Timecut: BANNER MEDITATING: in the lotus position, unmoving
PULSE: 55 – THE SOUND OF A SLOW HEARTBEAT that RISES and SPEEDS UP
MEMORY IMAGES: his mind wandering, happy memories leading to bad.
- BETTY ROSS at a LAB TABLE looking up at us, smiling
- BETTY and BRUCE sitting on a CAMPUS LAWN in late afternoon light
with pizza; she gives him a bite and kisses him
- JARRING SOUND and SURREAL IMAGE: FLAMES; a POV from 10 FEET
HIGH, looking down at BODIES on the floor beneath CRUSHED AND
BROKEN LAB EQUIPMENT. One of them is BETTY, a GASH in her head
-GEN ROSS looking right at us, hand on our shoulder consoling;
lips move but no sound comes out; intense
-our POV: looking out a CURTAINED WINDOW down on a FRONT DOOR.
Two MILITARY POLICE, knocking. We JERK AWAY from the window.
EYES: SNAP OPEN PULSE: 89...90
He sighs and breathes deeply. He can’t clear his mind tonight.
Banner in “lotus position,” then the “MEMORY IMAGES,” then back to Banner, eyes snapping open. Always seek the visual solution, visual storytelling over verbal exposition.
My personal preference is to use FLASH for this device, but there are several I’ve seen in use, for instance here, from Shane Black, The Long Kiss Goodnight:
UNDERWATER -- Sam THRASHES and jerks, to and fro. Dead Nathan, mocking her. There, under the water, the memories come... In a flood. Stark and vivid. MEMORY FLASH – THE YEAR THE TRUNK OF A CAR opens, revealing a patch of night sky. Mostly obscured by two familiar individuals -- There’s ONE-EYED JACK, remember him? Few years younger. One eyeball heavier. The other man is TIMOTHY. He looks in the trunk. Nods. TIMOTHY Okay, I’ll signal Daedalus. Your money will be waiting, and Jack...? Do yourself a favor, do her and dump her, I’m serious. Don’t get cute, try to play doctor first. I made that mistake. The lid SLAMS SHUT. BACK UNDER THE WATER The world of rushing MADNESS, memories unspooling now, faster and faster -- MEMORY FLASH: A CLIFF overlooking the ocean. Darkness. Sheeting rain. Our heroine, for it is unquestionably SAMANTHA, lying unconscious atop a rocky bluff. Drenched.
UNDERWATER -- Sam THRASHES and jerks, to and fro. Dead Nathan, mocking her. There, under the water, the memories come... In a flood. Stark and vivid.
MEMORY FLASH – THE YEAR
THE TRUNK OF A CAR opens, revealing a patch of night sky.
Mostly obscured by two familiar individuals --
There’s ONE-EYED JACK, remember him? Few years younger. One eyeball heavier. The other man is TIMOTHY. He looks in the
trunk. Nods.
TIMOTHY
Okay, I’ll signal Daedalus. Your money will be waiting, and Jack...? Do yourself a favor, do her and dump her, I’m serious. Don’t get cute, try to play doctor first. I made that mistake.
The lid SLAMS SHUT.
BACK UNDER THE WATER
The world of rushing MADNESS, memories unspooling now, faster and faster --
MEMORY FLASH: A CLIFF overlooking the ocean. Darkness.
Sheeting rain. Our heroine, for it is unquestionably SAMANTHA,
lying unconscious atop a rocky bluff. Drenched.
Dialogue can go into a FLASH. Notice how we stick with the present scene, even in the flashes, by use of Voice Over in The Fugitive:
DETECTIVE ROSETTI (V.O.) Do you own a gun, Dr. Kimble? KIMBLE Yes. DETECTIVE ROSETTI (V.O.) What kind of gun? KIMBLE A .38 Smith. FLASH – FORENSICS TECHNICIAN DUSTS CRYSTAL LAMP DETECTIVE KELLY Did you have your key with you tonight, Dr. Kimble? BACK TO SCENE PHONE RINGS. Rosetti answers it. Kimble watches him write something down, he slides it to Kelly. FLASH – MEASURE “NECKLACE” OF BRUISES ON HELEN’S NECK DETECTIVE KELLY (V.O.) Your wife was loaded wasn’t she? I mean, she was worth quite a bit of money. Kimble looks up at the two cops. For the first time he seems to sense something aggressive in their questioning. They no longer seem on the same team.
DETECTIVE ROSETTI (V.O.)
Do you own a gun, Dr. Kimble?
KIMBLE
Yes.
What kind of gun?
A .38 Smith.
FLASH – FORENSICS TECHNICIAN DUSTS CRYSTAL LAMP
DETECTIVE KELLY
Did you have your key with you tonight, Dr. Kimble?
BACK TO SCENE
PHONE RINGS. Rosetti answers it. Kimble watches him write something down, he slides it to Kelly.
FLASH – MEASURE “NECKLACE” OF BRUISES ON HELEN’S NECK
DETECTIVE KELLY (V.O.)
Your wife was loaded wasn’t she? I mean, she was worth quite a bit of money.
Kimble looks up at the two cops. For the first time he seems to sense something aggressive in their questioning. They no longer seem on the same team.
When you come out of the FLASH, go BACK TO SCENE, which brings you back to the present moment scene. Ok?
Off-Screen (O.S.) differs from Voice Over in that the character is present, just not seen.
Here’s an example from Taxi Driver:
Dishelved middle-aged New Yorker looks up from the desk. We CUT IN to ongoing conversation between the middle-aged PERSONNEL OFFICER and a YOUNG MAN standing in front on his desk. The young man is TRAVIS BICKLE. He wears his jeans, boots and Army jacket. He takes a drag off his unfiltered cigarette. The PERSONNEL OFFICER is beat and exhausted: he arrives at work exhausted. TRAVIS is something else again. His intense steely gaze is enough to jar even the PERSONNEL OFFICER out of his workaday boredom. PERSONNEL OFFICER (O.S.) No trouble with the Hack Bureau? TRAVIS (O.S.) No Sir. PERSONNEL OFFICER (O.S.) Got your license? TRAVIS (O.S.) Yes. PERSONNEL OFFICER So why do you want to be a taxi driver? TRAVIS I can’t sleep nights. PERSONNEL OFFICER There’s porno theatres for that. TRAVIS I know. I tried that.
Dishelved middle-aged New Yorker looks up from the desk. We CUT IN to ongoing conversation between the middle-aged PERSONNEL OFFICER and a YOUNG MAN standing in front on his desk.
The young man is TRAVIS BICKLE. He wears his jeans, boots and Army jacket. He takes a drag off his unfiltered cigarette.
The PERSONNEL OFFICER is beat and exhausted: he arrives at work exhausted. TRAVIS is something else again. His intense steely gaze is enough to jar even the PERSONNEL OFFICER out of his workaday boredom.
PERSONNEL OFFICER (O.S.)
No trouble with the Hack Bureau?
TRAVIS (O.S.)
No Sir.
Got your license?
PERSONNEL OFFICER
So why do you want to be a taxi driver?
TRAVIS
I can’t sleep nights.
There’s porno theatres for that.
I know. I tried that.
Paul Schrader gives us the setting, using O.S. so that we hear the full conversation, but don’t see who talks until halfway into the scene. Here’s another excellent O.S. sequence, from X-Men:
WASHINGTON D.C. – THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE A woman’s voice holds over the proceedings. It is the voice of JEAN GREY – whom we will soon meet. As she is speaking, we come to a large screen television at one end of the room. JEAN (O.S.) In every organism on Earth there exists a mutator gene – the X-factor, as it has come to be known. It is the basic building block of evolution -the reason we have evolved from homo habilus... FOOTAGE REFLECTS THE VARIOUS STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION. Accompanying it is a GRAPH with a DIAGONAL LINE indicating the ascent of the “human being” as we know it. Accompanying the graph are evolving images of the “evolution of man.” JEAN (O.S.) to homo erectus, to homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and, finally, to homo sapiens. The animated demo on the screen zooms in on the lowest order of human depicted – homo habilus – a primitive, ape- like humanoid covered in hair. As he is singled out, the terrain of his time appears, along with the harsh signs of his winter. JEAN (O.S.) Taking its cues from the climate, terrain, various sources of nourishment, the mutator gene tells the body when it needs to change to adapt to a new environment. The process is subtle, normally taking thousands of years. As the graphic changes and depicts WARMER CLIMATE, the HAIR STARTS TO DISAPPEAR ON THE MAN’S BODY -- gradually evolving into the human we now know as ourselves. Now the terrain is modern, the weather pleasant. The image pulls back and places this man back in line at the front of evolution. JEAN (O.S.) Only in the last few thousand years did mankind begin to make clothes for himself, build shelters, use heat and grow food in large quantities. With this man-made environment remaining relatively stable, the X-factor became dormant. QUICK SHOTS: early huts, early clothing; then early homes, later homes, air conditioning, cars, modern high- rises, etc. PULL BACK WIDER JEAN (O.S.) Until now.
WASHINGTON D.C. – THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE
A woman’s voice holds over the proceedings. It is the voice of JEAN GREY – whom we will soon meet. As she is speaking, we come to a large screen television at one end of the room.
JEAN (O.S.)
In every organism on Earth there exists a mutator gene – the X-factor, as it has come to be known. It is the basic building block of evolution -the reason we have evolved from homo habilus...
FOOTAGE REFLECTS THE VARIOUS STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION. Accompanying it is a GRAPH with a DIAGONAL LINE indicating the ascent of the “human being” as we know it. Accompanying the graph are evolving images of the “evolution of man.”
to homo erectus, to homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and, finally, to homo sapiens.
The animated demo on the screen zooms in on the lowest order of human depicted – homo habilus – a primitive, ape- like humanoid covered in hair. As he is singled out, the terrain of his time appears, along with the harsh signs of his winter.
Taking its cues from the climate, terrain, various sources of nourishment, the mutator gene tells the body when it needs to change to adapt to a new environment. The process is subtle, normally taking thousands of years.
As the graphic changes and depicts WARMER CLIMATE, the HAIR STARTS TO DISAPPEAR ON THE MAN’S BODY -- gradually evolving into the human we now know as ourselves.
Now the terrain is modern, the weather pleasant. The image pulls back and places this man back in line at the front of evolution.
Only in the last few thousand years did mankind begin to make clothes for himself, build shelters, use heat and grow food in large quantities. With this man-made environment remaining relatively stable, the X-factor became dormant.
QUICK SHOTS: early huts, early clothing; then early homes, later homes, air conditioning, cars, modern high- rises, etc.
PULL BACK WIDER
Until now.
Keep in mind with production drafts, you’ll sometimes find screenwriters directing like above (QUICK SHOTS, PULL BACK WIDER.) You get scripts that look like this, from Leprechaun:
As he lays there, breathing heavily... then we begin to HEAR STRANGE “IRISH MUSIC” coming from the crate. Then his MOTHER’S VOICE begins to sing the Irish song “Danny Boy” in the most beautiful voice we’ve ever heard... LEAH’S VOICE: (singing “Danny Boy”) Oh, Danny Boy... the Saints they are a’calling... Now we CRANE BACK... and... SMASH CUT TO: “YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY I GOT LOVE IN MY TUMMY” 70′s rock and roll song blasting out of: TIGHT ON A CAR’S TAPE DECK that is playing the song that brings back memories of a summer in the seventies. ON A BEAT-UP OLD JEEP, open top, traveling down a country road. A beautiful morning. And the SONG CONTINUES as we roll credits. The driver of the jeep, J.D. REDING, is singing along with the song.
As he lays there, breathing heavily... then we begin to HEAR STRANGE “IRISH MUSIC” coming from the crate. Then his MOTHER’S VOICE begins to sing the Irish song “Danny Boy” in the most beautiful voice we’ve ever heard...
LEAH’S VOICE: (singing “Danny Boy”) Oh, Danny Boy... the Saints they are a’calling...
Now we CRANE BACK... and...
SMASH CUT TO:
“YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY I GOT LOVE IN MY TUMMY” 70′s rock and roll song blasting out of:
TIGHT ON A CAR’S TAPE DECK
that is playing the song that brings back memories of a summer in the seventies.
ON A BEAT-UP OLD JEEP, open top, traveling down a country road. A beautiful morning. And the SONG CONTINUES as we roll credits. The driver of the jeep, J.D. REDING, is singing along with the song.
Do not direct your spec script! When you give us camera angles you take us out of the reading experience. You also encroach on the director’s domain. Don’t do it.
Good Reader, all my advice is geared toward helping you find the money to make your movie. Of course if you’ve already got the money, forget everything I’ve said. I mean it. Go ahead and write in camera angles; write in every SMASH CUT and CRANE shot; while you’re at it, write the script in 9 fonts, or in pink Crayola crayon. You’ve got the money!
“… and God help you if you use voiceover in your work, my friends. God help you! It’s flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character. You must present the internal conflicts of your character in action.”
This speech by the Robert McKee character in Adaptation is one of the funniest scenes ever about that heavily-debated topic in screenwriting: Voice Over! The very sound of it (along with its sister-device flashback) strikes fear! Horror stories of those foolish writers/directors who used voice over, and whose careers were never to be seen again!
Film is a visual medium. Too often we’re waiting for the narrator’s voice to end or start the scene. Or we’re listening to the narrator describe what we’re plainly seeing. Is there a tried and true test for the need of Voice Over? Not really. Common sense will have to do: Is there no visual way through action for you to introduce absolutely essential information that advances plot or character? No? Well then, it’s in. If it has to be Voice Over, then it’s Voice Over. And that’s ok!
Like with everything else in the screenwriting universe, there are no absolutes. I’ll bet you can name half a dozen movies that use voice over to devastating effect. Want a couple examples? Here’s one, from Forrest Gump:
EXT. RURAL ALABAMA A black and white photo of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The photo turns into live action as the General dons a hooded sheet over his head. The General is in full Ku Klux Klan garb, including his horse. The General rides off, followed by a large group of Klan members dressed in full uniform. FORREST (V.O.) She said we was related to him in some way. And, what he did was, he started up this club called the Ku Klux Klan. They’d all dress up in their robes and their bed sheets and act like a bunch of ghosts or spooks or something. They’d even put bed sheets on their horses and ride around. And anyway, that’s how I got my name. Forrest Gump.
EXT. RURAL ALABAMA
A black and white photo of General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The photo turns into live action as the General dons a hooded sheet over his head.
The General is in full Ku Klux Klan garb, including his horse.
The General rides off, followed by a large group of Klan members dressed in full uniform.
FORREST (V.O.)
She said we was related to him in some way. And, what he did was, he started up this club called the Ku Klux Klan. They’d all dress up in their robes and their bed sheets and act like a bunch of ghosts or spooks or something. They’d even put bed sheets on their horses and ride around. And anyway, that’s how I got my name. Forrest Gump.
Signature voice. You can’t imagine the movie without it. In fact, the movie couldn’t function without it. Read the script. There is no way the same story could be told without it, which is the measure of the need of V.O. There are many haters of Voice Over. I am not one of them. Here’s another example, from V For Vendetta:
In the darkness, we hear a voice, a woman’s voice. Her name is Evey. EVEY (V.O.) “Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of now reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.” Her voice has a strength that is metered by a calmness, a deep centered peace that we can feel. EVEY (V.O.) Those were almost the very first words he spoke to me and, in a way, that is where this story began, four hundred years ago, in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament. In the darkness, we find a lantern. Guy Fawkes, a dangerous man who wears a goatee, is struggling with a wheelbarrow stacked with barrels of gunpowder. EVEY (V.O.) In 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The wheelbarrow bumps over the heavy stone mortar of the cellar floor. From the dark depths, we hear the sound of dogs. EVEY (V.O.) He was caught in the cellars with enough gunpowder to level most of London. Guy sees lanterns coming from both sides. He tries to run as the dogs reach him first. He grabs for his sword as dozens of pole axes pin him against the tunnel’s stone wall.
In the darkness, we hear a voice, a woman’s voice. Her name is Evey.
EVEY (V.O.)
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of now reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.”
Her voice has a strength that is metered by a calmness, a deep centered peace that we can feel.
Those were almost the very first words he spoke to me and, in a way, that is where this story began, four hundred years ago, in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament.
In the darkness, we find a lantern. Guy Fawkes, a dangerous man who wears a goatee, is struggling with a wheelbarrow stacked with barrels of gunpowder.
In 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
The wheelbarrow bumps over the heavy stone mortar of the cellar floor. From the dark depths, we hear the sound of dogs.
He was caught in the cellars with enough gunpowder to level most of London.
Guy sees lanterns coming from both sides. He tries to run as the dogs reach him first. He grabs for his sword as dozens of pole axes pin him against the tunnel’s stone wall.
Concerning Voice Overs, the Script Gods Must Die rule applies: No other visual way through action for you to introduce absolutely essential information that advances plot or character? No? Then, damn the torpedoes and use Voice Over!
Remember with screen direction, you want the eye to roll down the page, to make the script a “page turner.” How do you do that? Go vertical. Keep the reader’s eyes moving vertically down the page. For example, from Seven:
He reaches to the nightstand, to a wooden, pyramidical metronome. He frees the metronome’s weighted swingarm so it moves back and forth. Swings to the left -- TICK, swings to the right -- TICK. Tick... tick... tick... measured and steady. Somerset situates on the bed, closes his eyes. Tick... tick... tick. The metronome’s sound competes with the sound of the car alarm. Somerset’s face tightens as he concentrates on the metronome. His eyes close tighter. Tick... tick... tick. The swingarm moves evenly. Somerset’s breathing deepens. Tick... tick... tick. The car alarm seems quieter. Tick... tick... tick. Somerset continues his concentration. The metronome’s sound seems louder. Tick... tick... tick. The sound of the car alarm fades, and is GONE. The metronome is the only sound. Somerset’s face relaxes as he begins to fall asleep. Tick...tick... tick...
He reaches to the nightstand, to a wooden, pyramidical metronome.
He frees the metronome’s weighted swingarm so it moves back and forth. Swings to the left -- TICK, swings to the right -- TICK. Tick... tick... tick... measured and steady.
Somerset situates on the bed, closes his eyes. Tick... tick... tick. The metronome’s sound competes with the sound of the car alarm. Somerset’s face tightens as he concentrates on the metronome. His eyes close tighter. Tick... tick... tick. The swingarm moves evenly. Somerset’s breathing deepens.
Tick... tick... tick. The car alarm seems quieter.
Tick... tick... tick. Somerset continues his concentration. The metronome’s sound seems louder.
Tick... tick... tick. The sound of the car alarm fades, and is GONE. The metronome is the only sound.
Somerset’s face relaxes as he begins to fall asleep. Tick...tick... tick...
The “tick tick tick” device is terrific. It moves your eye down the page, makes you wonder what’s coming next.
Another method of shaking up the reader visually is…
SINGLE LINE SPACING:
Condensing screen direction offers the reader a more visceral experience, faster, raw and more exciting. While I don’t use this style, it’s totally viable, as here from Alien 3 (Walter Hill & David Giler draft):
26. INT. ASSEMBLY HALL 26 Four stories high. Minimal electric light. The assembled prisoners move into position... Hang from railings Smoke. A convict population of 25 men. She struggles for control. Impossible Her eyes fill with tears. Eyes brimming, Ripley spots the remains of Newt’s cryotube. Faceplate is broken. Probably happened in the crash. There’s a strange discoloration on the metal below the faceplate. She leans forward, running her fingers over it... He hears something in the darkness to his left. Stopping, he sees a recessed storage area built into the wall of the air-duct... A gurgling sound is coming from inside. Curious, Murphy moves closer. Stopping before the recessed area, Murphy peers inside. Sees the Alien -- Still fawn like, but growing Time stops a second. Suddenly, the creature -- spits acid in Murphy¹s eyes... Clawing at his face, flesh tom away from his cheeks -- Murphy reels backwards. Smoke pours through his fingers. Screaming, he slam s into a wall and staggers backwards into The fan... Which rips him to pieces -- In a blink of an eye, the walls of the Air-duct are splattered with his remains The fan CLANGS to a ringing stop as Murphy¹s skin fouls the blade.
26. INT. ASSEMBLY HALL 26
Four stories high.
Minimal electric light.
The assembled prisoners move into position...
Hang from railings
Smoke.
A convict population of 25 men.
She struggles for control.
Impossible
Her eyes fill with tears.
Eyes brimming, Ripley spots the remains of Newt’s cryotube.
Faceplate is broken.
Probably happened in the crash.
There’s a strange discoloration on the metal below the faceplate.
She leans forward, running her fingers over it...
He hears something in the darkness to his left.
Stopping, he sees a recessed storage area built into the wall of the
air-duct...
A gurgling sound is coming from inside.
Curious, Murphy moves closer.
Stopping before the recessed area, Murphy peers inside.
Sees the Alien --
Still fawn like, but growing
Time stops a second.
Suddenly, the creature -- spits acid in Murphy¹s eyes...
Clawing at his face, flesh tom away from his cheeks --
Murphy reels backwards.
Smoke pours through his fingers.
Screaming, he slam s into a wall and staggers backwards into
The fan...
Which rips him to pieces --
In a blink of an eye, the walls of the Air-duct are splattered
with his remains
The fan CLANGS to a ringing stop as Murphy¹s skin fouls the blade.
SOUNDS/ VOICE OVER VS. OFF SCREEN
Sounds don’t need to be capitalized. Older scripts often did cap them: “The Chihuahua BARKS.” Again, no absolutes. There are scripts littered with WHOOSHES! SLAMS! BAMS! For example, this from Hellboy:
Leaving a trail of blood, Broom crawls to a dead G.I. and grabs a grenade from his belt. TCHKKK!!! Kroenen extends two gleaming blades from twin steel bands on his wrists and takes on an entire group of soldiers, mowing through them with swords spinning like deadly rotors. The steel chops clean through their weapons. Broom pulls the pin and throws the grenade at the generator. CLICK-CLACK!! It wedges itself between two moving tie rods. Kroenen squeals and -- retracting his blades -- lunges after it. The gyrating rails slice through his leather jacket. As his fingers reach the grenade, it EXPLODES!!! Kroenen flies through the air, hitting a stone wall, where two long pieces of shrapnel pin him like an insect. Another rail plunges -- FFFFT!! like a javelin -- into the earth right next to MATLIN.
Leaving a trail of blood, Broom crawls to a dead G.I. and grabs a grenade from his belt.
TCHKKK!!! Kroenen extends two gleaming blades from twin steel bands on his wrists and takes on an entire group of soldiers, mowing through them with swords spinning like deadly rotors. The steel chops clean through their weapons.
Broom pulls the pin and throws the grenade at the generator.
CLICK-CLACK!! It wedges itself between two moving tie rods.
Kroenen squeals and -- retracting his blades -- lunges after it. The gyrating rails slice through his leather jacket. As his fingers reach the grenade, it EXPLODES!!!
Kroenen flies through the air, hitting a stone wall, where two long pieces of shrapnel pin him like an insect.
Another rail plunges -- FFFFT!! like a javelin -- into the earth right next to MATLIN.
Here, it works. But many scripts don’t have a single FFFFT! This is a stylistic thing. If you want to cap sounds, cap ‘em. Just be consistent with your choice.
