I'm working on a script at the moment. It all takes place in one locatrion, a small terraced house.

I'm looking for interesting ways to show time passing and I'm getting a mental block.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Depends how much time you're talking about.  A couple of simple ways is to show day turn to night if it's just a short time, or if it's longer then you can show the seasons changing, i.e. snow, leaves changing color, etc.

Hope that helps some.

I think I know what you're talking about. You mean showing time passing without changing the time of day? Inserting LATER in the slug or even by itself does the trick. Not very interesting but it gets the job done. Otherwise you could try a series of dissolves. Maybe show the clouds or shadows moving over time. It's easy to go overboard with that approach though. If this isn't what you're trying to do, I think Greg's advice is pretty solid.

Isn't "LATER" frowned upon by filmmakers?

I think I read that as a faux pas somehwere.

What's frowned upon is: "TWO MINUTES LATER", "THREE DAYS LATER", etc, because that's information on the page that will be lost on screen. The camera can't record the exact time that passed between two scenes, unless there's a close up on a clock or calendar (which means the writer should include this elements in the descriptions).

Just "LATER" is fine and something that the director could easily achieve by a slow dissolve.

Cliche suggestion, but one of those "cliche for a reason" ones:  Show a clock with the time, then dissolve to the new time.  Simple, easy, clear.

how would I write this

I want to show someone cooking beans on toast but I don't want to show the whole process.

Basically I just want them putting the beans on the stove to cook and immediately go to them tucking in to their meal.

My first question would be to ask whether or not it's imperative to show him putting the beans on the stove prior to eating them.

If it is, you could write that description, then follow it up with a new slugline that has LATER at the end, or switch to another room entirely for a brief period before having him go back and retrieve his beans.

Well i suppose it isn't really imperative

Still thanks for the reply at least I have a better idea of what to do.