Once you've established the larger hallway, it is more than acceptable and even understandable to use what are referred to as SECONDARY HEADINGS, which is what Bert used in his example. When you have those multiple tableaus in a single area, that's actually the clearest way to write it, since only the characters are dividing the location into different elements.

Those secondary headings can also be used to transition between room of a single location, too, such as the perennial house problem:

INT. HOUSE

Tom turns off the TV and stands up. He walks

INTO THE KITCHEN

where he makes a sandwich. He takes a bite and walks

INTO THE DEN

where he finds the sandwich he made earlier. He looks at the sandwich in his hand and walks

INTO THE LIVING ROOM

where he sits back down and turns the TV back on.

I've been wondering about something for a while.  What if a large part of your story takes place in a forest?  Maybe the script calls for ten different locations.  Do you give each scene a distinct marker (ie:  waterfall, tent site, etc.) or is there some other way to do this?


Phil

I don't see whats wrong with that Phil.

Quoted from slabstaa I don't see whats wrong with that Phil.

With what?  All the distinct markers?

What if your characters are supposedly to be wandering around lost? You may not want them seeing anything that they recognize.  Having your character shout, "Hey, that's Indian Head Rock," tells them where they are.  And that may not be what you want.

This also applies to interior shots, like caverns (ie:  The Descent), or even school buildings at night (ie:  most slasher films).  If Michael Myers is chasing teens down a school corridor, should the slug read:

INT.  SCHOOL CORRIDOR.  OUTSIDE ROOM 312.

While certain locations in a school building/forest/cavern/coral reef can have identifiable markers, using them would defeat the purpose if you're trying to convey that the characters are lost.


Phil

I think if you had your characters lost in the forest for the majority of the script, you'd want to break up the scenes with INT. FOREST - LATER or just later. If there's not supposed to be any distinguishing features, I'd imagine that'd be the only thing you could do. Rely on the passage of time. It couldn't hurt to have occassional landmarks but still. This has never bothered me though. 80% of my first script took place in the forest.

The school buildings dillemna goes back to my initial question about hallways. If you could use a slug INT. SCHOOL. OUTSIDE ROOM 312 in any script, that'd be great. I'm not completely positive it works though. It would for me. Maybe not others.

The questions I'm raising are, how do you identify a particular spot (say, in the woods) with your slug?  What if it's just a section of forest without any discerning markers?  You could just say EXT.  FOREST., but what if you want to use that particular spot again?  If your characters are lost and they're walking in circles, how would you identify this spot in a slug?

The 'OUTSIDE ROOM 312' slug may work in a shooting script, but I don't think it would work in a spec script.  If you have teens being chased through the school by the deranged janitor or teacher, how important is that significant area in the hall?


Phil

In the Hallway scenario, if you use something like you suggested (Outside Room 312), then your characters are obviously standing in place, cause if they move, run, etc., they're no longer outside Room 312.

I guess the question comes down to, does it matter where they are if they're in a Hallway?  Is the part of the Hallway they're in, any different from the Hallway a few feet away?  50 feet away, etc.?

In the forest or cave scenario, it's a different situation, cause nature, unlike Hallways, is different everywhere you look.  It may "look" the same in multiple areas, but there are always differentiating features.

For a cave scenario, you could use things like "NARROW PASSAGE", "CATHEDRAL CAVE", "ROCKY OUTCROPPING", "REFLECTION POOL ROOM", etc.

For a forest situation, I think you'd need to use something identifiable in the slug, whether or not the characters are lost...the readers are the ones reading the slugs, so whatever you can say that helps us out, the better.  Same thing with a set person needing to know when the same location is in use.  ""BY A WATERFALL", NEAR OLD TREE", "ROCKY OUTCROPPING", etc.

Some good points here and i just realised it's relevant to 2 of my current scripts.

when describing a football game, is it best to just have the action? Or more specific slugs if there are a few important scenes on the field?

Does anyone know where I could read the script for 'Friday Night Lights'? That would be a good help.

Quoted from dogglebe The questions I'm raising are, how do you identify a particular spot (say, in the woods) with your slug?  What if it's just a section of forest without any discerning markers?  You could just say EXT.  FOREST., but what if you want to use that particular spot again?  If your characters are lost and they're walking in circles, how would you identify this spot in a slug? The 'OUTSIDE ROOM 312' slug may work in a shooting script, but I don't think it would work in a spec script.  If you have teens being chased through the school by the deranged janitor or teacher, how important is that significant area in the hall? Phil

If I were writing and using my brother's cabin/woods area, I think I'd use some discerning markers from the area. Like:

EXT. OFF HIGHWAY 97 - POWER LINES

EXT. POWER STATION

EXT. RUNNING CREEK

Also, I think I'd divide the area into sections for the purpose of the script. Or, use existing divisions from research.

If it's a fantasy and you are starting to get down to the nitty gritty, then drawing a map is helpful I think and then base the sluglines from there.

Sandra

Phil, if a slug is good enough for a "shooting script," it's good enough for a spec. There are no differences in shooting and spec slugs. Location is paramount to making a budget.

It all boils down to clarity. You can pretty much write sluglines in any way that you need to to effectively describe where the action is occurring. Sluglines are used by the production company to establish 1) INT./EXT.: where to place the camera in relation to the location 2) PLACE: where the location actually is and how many times it crops up in the shoot and 3) TIME OF DAY: whether they're shooting at day, night, or mid-afternoon with a filter (haha). As long as your slug has those three elements, then you've written a correct slug. Secondary headings are used when the PRIMARY LOCATION doesn't change. You may be in a house, but you move continually from room to room. No need for new overall slugs since INT. HOUSE - DAY is still true, and by using secondary slugs, you might be telling the company that a steadi-cam would work well for the shot.

As for the unknown FOREST locations (such as The Blair Witch Project) or endless series of CAVES in Descent, it's about clarity. Descent had a few distinct caves that they undoubtedly used specific slugs for. Other caves were probably just INT. CAVE with no time of day indicator, since they didn't know. Blair With probably used EXT. FOREST - DAY for a lot of it, but they could also have used EXT. CAMP, INT. TENT, EXT. OLD HOUSE, and that sort of thing when specific, distinguishable locations come up.

Slugs are the one part where the spec writer can (and is expected to) direct. Put yourself in the shoes of the location scout, producer, or director, and decide whether your sluglines can describe where your character is well enough to tell an actor what to do next. If you can answer yes, then congratulations, you've got a good slug.

I wish I could find my longest slug. It had my INT./EXT. plus a location followed by a city, then country, then year, then time of day. But that particular script, all that was needed in the slug. You've got to be clear.

The most important rule in screenwriting is CLARITY. Make it absolutely CLEAR in every way so that there is no question as to what you mean. You're not writing a novel. You're writing a blueprint for someone else to work with. Make it clear where you want it to be, and you're good.

Quoted from George Willson Phil, if a slug is good enough for a "shooting script," it's good enough for a spec. There are no differences in shooting and spec slugs. Location is paramount to making a budget.

I'm not sure about that, George.

In the case of The Blair Witch Project, the three were wandering in the woods.  At one or two points, they learn that they walked in circles because they recognize a tree.  For the shooting script, the slug for this particular shot may be:

EXT.  WOODS.  TREE OF REALIZATION -DAY.

The tree of realization would be called this just so the crew know exactly where in the woods they're shooting this scene (as opposed to all the other trees through out the movie).

Naming each tree in the slugs for a spec script would be confusing, if not too revealing, to the reader.


Phil

I don't think Blair Witch Project had a script, just an outline. And the crew didn't shoot anything, that was all down to the actors.

They might have used slug lines at some point, but I doubt it.

Anyway my point wasn't really important to the whole discussion...

I'm in agreement with George here, pretty much completely.  One of his comments also reminded me what I wanted to add to this discussion yesterday, but forgot after my 23rd shot of Jager.

Secondary (abbreviated) slugs, IMO, are most useful when a scene is in "motion", moving from 1 part of something, to another part of that same something.  George mentioned the use of a Handicam...yeah, or just a tracking shot that follows the movement into the another room, or whatever, all in 1, unbroken shot.

IMO, new slugs show a change in scene, and usually a passing of time (I know, when you use "CONTINUALLLY" in the slug (like I often do), the scene plays continually fom the last one)....or a break in the action.  When someone is walking through a house, from room to room, and there's no break whatsoever as he moves into another room, that's the time for secondary slugs.

Now, I'm not saying they can't be properly used in other situations, but, IMO, this is the best use of them, and most likely, the only time I would use them.

Quoted from George Willson You may be in a house, but you move continually from room to room. No need for new overall slugs since INT. HOUSE - DAY is still true, and by using secondary slugs, you might be telling the company that a steadi-cam would work well for the shot.

What is a steadi-cam?

Sandra

Well, Steadi-Cam is a brand name, kind of like Kleenex, in that it's used as a general term for a camera rig that "steadies" itself as you move with it. It allows a camera operator to move through a scene without an undue amount of shaking motion. It still takes some skill and personal steadiness to use it properly, but since the rig is counterweighted, it helps to hold the camera steady so the final shot looks fluid. It's usually used when a dolly, track, or other kind of camera stabilization system would either not fit or be otherwise "not right" for the scene. The expensive kinds have all kinds of bells and whistles and are usually attached to the operator by a harness. The cheap kind is often a pole with a counterweight on the bottom (I have used this latter variety, and it's still remarkably effective).



On other notes, yes Blair Witch had no script. The actors were given the general idea and told to improvise with their cameras. I used it as a more general example.

And Phil, if the tree is that important, why wouldn't it be in the original script?