this might sound trivial and silly but what is the correct way of typing out that a person is talking but its a voice over from a phone

eg.
OLD LADY

Frank, has, shall we say a tendency to nod off, at the most inopportune times, I was wondering if you could go in and just make sure he doesn't fall asleep on the toilet.

FRANK

Dammit woman, I can poop on my own!

DECKARD

I'd like to ma'am, but that's really not my jurisdiction.

(this is the voice over on a walkie talkie
SHELTON (0.S.)

I don't understand.  You mean how do you write someone on the phone?  Or do you mean someone on the phone, and then we switch to a series of shots, but they are still talking?

I would assume it would go like this.

SO-AND-SO (VO)
Dammit, I can take a dump on my own.

SO-AND-SO 2
(into phone)
No you can't!  You need my supervision!

OS means the person is not within the scene when their dialogue is said.

I'd write it like this:


OLD LADY
(Into phone)
Frank seems to have this problem whenever going to the bathroom unsupervised. I was just wondering if maybe you could watch him. He has a tendency to fall asleep on the toilet.

FRANK (O.S.)
Damn it, woman! I can use the crapper on my own!

OLD LADY
(Into phone)
Do you think you can do it?

DECKARD (V.O.)
I'd like to ma'am, but that's not really my jurisdiction.

OLD LADY
Oh. Okay. Well, thanks any way.

Quoted Text OS means the person is not within the scene when their dialogue is said.

slabstaa, OS means "Off Screen" which means, that character is still in the scene, they're just off camera. So you can use OS whenever one person is in one part of a house, and they yell to another character in another part of a house, and when they yell back, but you don't want to show it, then you us OS for off screen and just type in their dialogue. Is that what you meant?

Sean

no shelton is talking to deckard over the walkie talkie cekard the old lay and frank are in the scene shelton is a voie over coming from the walkietalkie

When a character is out of the camera's sight, but in the scene, you use (O.S.) for off screen.  When said person is on the phone (not in the scene), you use (V.O.) for voice over.  The same applies for narration.  

Generally, you would use (V.O.) when the character actually records his part separately from the scene and has it edited in later on.


Phil

Quoted from Zombie Sean slabstaa, OS means "Off Screen" which means, that character is still in the scene, they're just off camera. So you can use OS whenever one person is in one part of a house, and they yell to another character in another part of a house, and when they yell back, but you don't want to show it, then you us OS for off screen and just type in their dialogue. Is that what you meant?

yeah, i guess I just worded it wrong.

Quoted from nqcowboy no shelton is talking to deckard over the walkie talkie cekard the old lay and frank are in the scene shelton is a voie over coming from the walkietalkie

Whoa, is this a SimplyScripts script?

Anyway, what Phil said.  With telephone and walkie talkie convos, I normally flag the person on the other end as a V.O.

The Voiceovers Thread has a lot of info on these abbreviations, though I don't believe it addresses phone or walkie talkie conversations specifically.

The bottom line is to consider the OS or VO relative to the position of the character. OS means there but off screen, while VO means not there at all but we can hear his voice. The other thing that comes up a lot in phone conversations is the INTERCUT which is going between two locations within a scene, and it's used a lot for phone conversations so we can see both parties in a conversation. Using this, you don't need to use OS or VO since both characters are technically on screen for their lines.

It's whatever works best for the story, but at the same time, if the director thinks he has a better idea, he'll change it anyway.

Quoted from Zombie Sean slabstaa, OS means "Off Screen" which means, that character is still in the scene, they're just off camera. So you can use OS whenever one person is in one part of a house, and they yell to another character in another part of a house, and when they yell back, but you don't want to show it, then you us OS for off screen and just type in their dialogue. Is that what you meant? Sean

So then what does (O.C.) get used for?  I always thought (V.O.) was narration or thinking, (O.S.) was for someone talking on the phone or a recording or something, and (O.C.) was used when somebody is present within the scene but off camera.

Am I way off? The difference between Off Screen and Off Camera never really made much sense to me since they both seem to imply the same thing.

Off Screen and Off Camera are two ways to write the same thing. Pick one and stick with it throughout the script and anyone will know what you're going for. I prefer O.S. since it is a throw back to playwriting, as it means Off Stage in that context. But if you like O.C., anyone worth their salt will know what it means.