How would you go about formatting a scene where a character imagines a reaction to something and then the real reaction occurs after?

EX: (I know this is incorrect, bear with me)

CHIP
What are you doing Friday night?

BRIDGET
Going out with my friends and not giving a thought to how lonely you are at home.

Chip steps forward and punches Bridget square in the face (only happens in his mind).

Chip hangs his head and walks away (what really happens).

James R

This happens in two movies that I know of, and they both involve heads exploding. Joan Allen's character does it in THE UPSIDE OF ANGER and Queen Latifah does it in BRINGIN' DOWN THE HOUSE.

At least, I think it's Latifah. I think she makes Joan Plowright's head explode at the dinner scene, when she has to play the maid.

Neither script is available.

I'd do it like this:

LIVING ROOM

CHIP
Whatcha doin' tonight?

BRIDGET
Goin' out with my friends and not giving you a second thought.

Chip punches Bridget in her nose, breaking her face in half.

QUICK CUT:

LIVING ROOM

All is normal.

CHIP

Well, okay then. Have fun.

Most short fantasy sequences are set up as POV kind of shots. The fantasy happens through the eyes of the person having the fantasy.

--
BRIDGET
Going out with my friends and not giving a thought to how lonely you are at home.

IN CHIP'S FANTASY he steps forward and punches Bridget square in the face.

Back to reality as Chip hangs his head and walks away.
--

You don't want to gain a lot of line count with these sort of scenes.  It is in and out as quickly as possible because you're not changing location.

There should be scripts for the TV show Scrubs floating around the internet. The show would probably offer you lots of different methods.

I usually stick (DREAM SEQUENCE) at the end of the slug or simply put DREAM SEQUENCE:. Forget it's not really a dream sequence. It's a daydream so I think the label fits.

Check out the screenplay for High Fidelity. There is a similar scene where Cusack's character imagines beating up his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend many different ways when in actuality, the boyfriend is un-harmed and walks away.

Quoted from Cam07 Check out the screenplay for High Fidelity. There is a similar scene where Cusack's character imagines beating up his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend many different ways when in actuality, the boyfriend is un-harmed and walks away.

I had forgotten about that scene. The only other movie I could think of was a rollerblade movie made in the 90s (Airborne) where Jack imagines throwing Mitchell through a window.

And you're right, Tierney, you don't want to get too many extra lines for this.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I'll look through Hi-Fidelity.

James R