There are two uses for INTERCUT. The first is: THE TELEPHONE CONVERSATION: Establish the first location, establish the second, and then INTERCUT between them: INT. JOHN BOEHNER HOME- NIGHT Boehner looks on as a TV plays his news conference from earlier in the day. The phone rings, he picks up. INT. JOHN MCCAIN HOME- SAME […]
“Keep your screen direction tight!” “Don’t overwrite!” It’s all well and good to tell you this, but how much screen direction is too much? How many lines? What are the rules? Here’s my own rule of thumb: When your screen direction can’t be covered by a block of Velveeta cheese, it’s too long. Examine every […]
There are a couple ways to go with Montage format: INT. PLAZA HOTEL- NEW YORK CITY- NIGHT (MONTAGE) --Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae sip Maine lobster bisque with Merrill Lynch bigwigs. --They munch Free Range Organic Chicken with Bank of American honchos. --They slurp Nutella crepes with Citibank VP’s. END MONTAGE Or, MONTAGE--FREDDY MAC AND […]
Try to give your screen direction “white space” (where the camera would naturally cut) wherever possible… I/E. SUV – AFTERNOON A blue SUV speeds down a road surrounded by trees. In the back seat, WILLIAM, 12, doodles in his note book, squashed between his brother J.J., 16, and sister COURTNEY, 14, with headphones, texting on […]
Let’s start with a no-no: Backstory in screen direction: EXT. PARADE ROUTE- BRIGHT DAY Jillian watches as the pageant parade passes, seeming to remember the day she was crowned Miss Southeast Panhandle State 1956. There was a goldenrod sun that day too, and as she drove along waving from the festooned Wheaties Breakfast of Champions […]
