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I never realized how irritating this is until just recently...
How do you approach having multiple locations with essentially the same slugline? For example, having hallways in different buildings? Do you have to name the building in each slugline or is it fine to just stick with INT. HALLWAY? I ask because I'm not sure if it's an issue if your script actually gets produced and production schedules have to be drawn up. Either way, it's somewhat disorienting to have some slugs have the building in them and others not to.
Further more, hallways in large buildings always seem to be an issue as there's always separate stretches of hallway but it seems awkward to have a slug like INT. HALLWAY NEAR... or something to that effect. Same goes for having two characters in separate stretches of hallway. I've seen slugs like INT. HALLWAY WITH [INSERT CHARACTER] or simply WITH [INSERT CHARACTER] but I'm not sure if that's quite how it's done.
Probably not a big deal but it's always better to ask, I figure. At least you learned something. Plus it's probably better not to sweat small stuff like this when writing features or generally more complex shorts.
Every location needs it's own distinct slugline. Thinking of how confusing it would become in terms of intercutting. Hank dialing his cell phone while running for his life down INT. HALLWAY and you cut to Bill answering his cell phone leaving work also in INT. HALLWAY but, you know, across town.
The name of the building might be the cleanest way to do it. Most feature writers go from little to big with setting locations. The issue is that you have to stay uniform with the look of the slugline. INT. HALLWAY, HAMPTON TOWER and INT. ELEVATOR, HAMPTON TOWER and INT. JEAN'S OFFICE, HAMPTON TOWER. If the script gets produced it saves time when they're pulling the location or scene report if you're consistent.
In the case of the endless seventh floor hallway just remember you're the camera. Every time you have to physically cut the scene to get to a character or a leaking water pipe or whatever then you should reset your slugline.
I'm in agreement with Bre, here. I always give the same advice, to start with the bigger description of the locale, and narrow it down from there.
For instance, if you have 2 or more houses in your script, and have characters in each kitchen at times, you'd want your slugs to read, "INT. JOE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN", vs. "INT. KITCHEN - JOE'S HOUSE". Otherwise, when you're in the other kitchen, the slug would start out "INT. KITCHEN" again, and that can get confusing, IMO.
I think this makes it much easier if your script does get produced, because pulling a scene report is much easier this way, otherwise, you're going to have a bunch of scenes all reading kitchen, and you'd have to read further to figure out where each kitchen actually is.
I'm not talking about intercutting. That's a given. The rest kinda makes sense though. Although it seems strange to spend the majority of a script in one location and stick to basic descriptions for slugs except for one room because there was another one earlier in the script. Although it's equally confusing not to lable as such. I suppose the latter advice helps though.
Still, the hallway issue continues to elude me. Obviously, if a character turns a corner, you don't need a new slug. But when there's two characters in what's essentially the same hallway and yet they're not together, that's when things get fuzzy for me.
Abbreviated slugs make sense, as Bert suggested. I personally don't like them, though. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned in this regard, but, IMO, full slugs make for easier and clearer writing.
Without them, when you pull up a scene report, you could easily have several "KITCHEN" or "HALLWAY" scenes that aren't actually the same place, meaning someone has to actually read the scene to make sure whch kitchen it is, and then make corrections to the printed scene report by hand.
It may make the read quicker, and it may look more streamlined, but it doesn't take any extra lines to be exact and complete, and really doesn't add any difficulty to the read itself.
Abbreviated slugs make sense, as Bert suggested. I personally don't like them, though. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned in this regard, but, IMO, full slugs make for easier and clearer writing.
I agree, although I think you need to find a balance between the two. Slugs can be tedious to read if there's too many in one spot but you can sometimes miss them if they're abbreviated.
It's kinda hard to put my first issue into words although I think most of what I've heard points in the right direction.
Abbreviated slugs make sense, as Bert suggested. I personally don't like them, though. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned in this regard, but, IMO, full slugs make for easier and clearer writing.
Without them, when you pull up a scene report, you could easily have several "KITCHEN" or "HALLWAY" scenes that aren't actually the same place, meaning someone has to actually read the scene to make sure whch kitchen it is, and then make corrections to the printed scene report by hand.
It may make the read quicker, and it may look more streamlined, but it doesn't take any extra lines to be exact and complete, and really doesn't add any difficulty to the read itself.
I think partial slugs are okay (for interior shots) as long as they don’t go on too long. If the main slug for the scene can be found on the same page, or within a few pages, I think it’s okay. If the entire story takes place in one location, I would go ahead and use full slugs. But yeah, you’re right, the more full slugs, the better, and you can’t go wrong just having full slugs throughout.
Most writers don’t realize how important sluglines are. They are extremely important.
Abbreviated slugs make sense... I personally don't like them...when you pull up a scene report, you could easily have several "KITCHEN" or "HALLWAY" scenes...
I disagree with your logic, Jeff.
Save your "scene report" problems for those magical entities known as "shooting scripts" that everybody grumbles about.
Your spec should flow. Worry about those other details down the road.
Right on Bre, I continually preach how important slugs are. Most don't seem to agree.
They should always be exact and they should be extremely consistent. It's so easy to write good slugs, IMO, and it goes so far in helping the reader to know and visualize exactly where we are, when the slugs are solid.
Well, Bert, the scene report issues are just 1 of the issues I have with using anything other than full slugs. Again, maybe it's old fashioned of me, but it's something that I do feel quite adament about.
I can easily see the logic of abbreviated slugs, but for me, I just don't like them or use them. As I said, they don't save any space in the script, because they're still a line, and they just provide less information.
Difference of opinion, I guess, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Right on Bre, I continually preach how important slugs are. Most don't seem to agree.
They should always be exact and they should be extremely consistent. It's so easy to write good slugs, IMO, and it goes so far in helping the reader to know and visualize exactly where we are, when the slugs are solid.
Glad I'm not alone on this topic.
The thing is that there are people who will have to sort out these locations, determine how many there will be, and how long those locations will be needed. Someone has to get permits, etc. If they can’t make heads or tails of your locations, or if they don’t schedule enough time for a location because of a technical error in your script, it’s your ass.
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
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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).
Thanks George. It helps to know a little about the techniques and equipment in filming. Although I don't want to be overly concerned, ( since I primarily worry about word and storycraft) I am still curious to know about the tricks of the trade with regard to the actual filming so I can write with that aspect in mind.
And Phil, if the tree is that important, why wouldn't it be in the original script?
'That tree' may not be so important in a spec script. Passing by a tree in the forest is not necessarily going to be of significance. It would be in the shooting script when listing all the shooting locations.
I'm having a few problems with multiple locations too so thought I'd ask here. It's similar to James' question but it takes place outside, switching between two people who are pretty close to each other but one one is unaware of the other. The scene goes like this;
EXT. ABBERSTON ARMS - BEAR GARDEN - NIGHT
Russ bursts out of the exit, his hand barricades his mouth.
He runs to the smoking area and hovers above the sand filled bucket. He lowers his hand, his cheeks puff out.
A rustle is heard (O.S.)
Russ freezes, his stomach jerks and his mouth fills. He holds it in. He slowly looks up to see Howard next to the coach.
BESIDE COACH
Howard lays a body bag on the ground and unzips it.
BEER GARDEN
Russ stares in ore, struggling to see in the dim light. Vomit slowly seeps from his lips.
BESIDE COACH
Howard grabs Derek’s feet and struggles to maneuver the dead weight inside the bag.
BEER GARDEN
Russ’ eyes bulge and his lips quiver. He wretches and a little vomit escapes.
Howard turns and looks over toward Russ’ location.
Russ frantically searches for a hiding place, unable to see one he freezes in the darkness.
Howard scans the area for a moment. Content, he turns and continues to wrestle with the corpse. He zips up the bag and, with a struggle, drags the body away.
Russ bends over the bucket, opens his mouth and allows the remaining vomit to escape. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and quietly sneaks back inside the pub.
END SCENE
As you can see there's a few switches but then it concentrates on Russ' location and he views Howard from his perspective. Does this read OK? I'm worried it's too confusing. Any thoughts?
Check out my scripts...if you want to, no pressure.
Another alternative to the actual places you have would be to use the TOM/JOE example Bert gave earlier. This is actually a perfect example for it, and would probably read a little more cleanly than the way you have it. But the way you have is very understandable as is.
Remember that the primary rule is clarity. As long as someone else can figure out what you're trying to do, it works.
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