Quoted from sniper I don't agree, Jeff. You may be inside a stadium but you are still physically outside (under the open sky so to speak).

Yeah, I'd agree with Rob. Open sky above - EXT
Hockey or basketball it would be INT.
A closed roof would be INT, IF the whole game took place with it shut. If the roof shuts during the script, I doubt anyone would care if the slug said INT or EXT.
Also there could be people reading who mighn't know that a certain stadium has a retractable roof. The important thing is the action and what's happening in the stadium, as part of the script.

In the end, it probably doesn't matter alffy - we'll get the gist of it.

The purpose of INT. or EXT is two fold. One to indicate if the scene is external or internal but also to assist the lighting engineer.

The lighting for internal and external shots require totally different considerations and that still applies regardless of the scene being shot in the day or night.

You can use INT./EXT to indicate to the director and others that the shot choice can be either, such as when a car is involved in the scene.

I don't think it really matters.

However.

EXT. STADIUM.

Reads as though you are exterior the stadium, rather than in it. Could get confusing, especially if you have a scene that also takes place outside of the stadium (IE they buy tickets, a hot dog etc).

If you were to use EXT for the inside of the stadium, you'd have the same slug for both locations and that seems wrong to me.

Exactly my point, Dec. I agree with you here completely.

In Field of Dreams when Terence Mann and Ray Kinsella pull into the parking lot at Fenway it's EXT. FENWAY PARK. Once they enter the Stadium it's INT. STADIUM. As they emerge into the sunlight after walking from the indoor to the outdoor portion of the stadium and reach their seats it's SECTION SEVENTEEN. Sorry don't know if that helps.

It does actually, Sandman. Thanks.

Quoted from Sandman In Field of Dreams when Terence Mann and Ray Kinsella pull into the parking lot at Fenway it's EXT. FENWAY PARK. Once they enter the Stadium it's INT. STADIUM. As they emerge into the sunlight after walking from the indoor to the outdoor portion of the stadium and reach their seats it's SECTION SEVENTEEN. Sorry don't know if that helps.

Thank you, it does help. The whole problem lies within our perception. What's EXTERIOR can also be deemed INTERIOR, depending upon which side you're coming from.

If, from your perspective, you're going INTO something, something with a barrier, even if it's an internal barrier, such as "A Mind", then you are going IN.

Any kind of "borders" to me, means an external/internal crossing. It might be completely external and easy, as in: a structure with floor, walls and ceiling - or it may be an internal separation that one has constructed. Same floor, walls and ceiling, but abstract and prohibiting access one way or the other.

Most important thing to remember, I think, is to judge each case individually. There will always be exceptions to every rule.

The good thing is that we don't take it lightly - The INT./EXT. question. It's important. In so many ways and on so many levels.

Sandra

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films I don't think it really matters. However. EXT. STADIUM. Reads as though you are exterior the stadium, rather than in it. Could get confusing, especially if you have a scene that also takes place outside of the stadium (IE they buy tickets, a hot dog etc). If you were to use EXT for the inside of the stadium, you'd have the same slug for both locations and that seems wrong to me.

You're right, dec, it doesn't really matter and as seen by the examples provided by Slabby and Sandman, both are used.

Having said that, INTERIOR and INSIDE (as in, I've-just-walk-through-a-gate-to-a-stadium) are two very different things in my book. Technically, EXT. is the correct way to go when inside a stadium because you are EXTERIOR or EXTERNAL as Ron puts it, and thereby at the mercy of the elements (sunshine, rain...whatever). EXT. and INT. doesn't really tell us anything other whether the shot is EXTERIOR or INTERIOR.

Whether it's confusing or not for the reader really depends on how you put the slug together. Being inside the stadium, you could easily get away with:

EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - FIELD (or DIAMOND) - DAY
EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - DUGOUT - DAY
EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - STANDS - NIGHT

Hell, you could even get away with:

EXT. INSIDE YANKEE STADIUM - STANDS - DAY
EXT. OUTSIDE YANKEE STADIUM - BOX OFFICE - NIGHT

But I have a better idea, let's wait til the writers of the October OWC are revealed and then let's ask whoever wrote GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD why he or she chose EXT. for this scene --

Quoted from Ghost In The Graveyard pg. 2 EXT. MT. HOPE CEMETERY - CONTINUOUS

-- even though you have to pass through a gate to get inside the cemetery.

What do you say, Jeff, should we wait for that?  

Quoted from sniper You're right, dec, it doesn't really matter and as seen by the examples provided by Slabby and Sandman, both are used. Having said that, INTERIOR and INSIDE (as in, I've-just-walk-through-a-gate-to-a-stadium) are two very different things in my book. Technically, EXT. is the correct way to go when inside a stadium because you are EXTERIOR or EXTERNAL as Ron puts it, and thereby at the mercy of the elements (sunshine, rain...whatever). EXT. and INT. doesn't really tell us anything other whether the shot is EXTERIOR or INTERIOR. Whether it's confusing or not for the reader really depends on how you put the slug together. Being inside the stadium, you could easily get away with: EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - FIELD (or DIAMOND) - DAY EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - DUGOUT - DAY EXT. YANKEE STADIUM - STANDS - NIGHT Hell, you could even get away with: EXT. INSIDE YANKEE STADIUM - STANDS - DAY EXT. OUTSIDE YANKEE STADIUM - BOX OFFICE - NIGHT But I have a better idea, let's wait til the writers of the October OWC are revealed and then let's ask whoever wrote GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD why he or she chose EXT. for this scene -- -- even though you have to pass through a gate to get inside the cemetery. What do you say, Jeff, should we wait for that?

The answer: "It doesn't really matter" is true if you are in omniscient mode. From the perspective of the character who witnesses it however, it DOES MATTER.

One is WITNESSING SOMETHING EITHER FROM OUTSIDE IN, OR INSIDE OUT.

We need to establish POV and so I think: IT DOES MATTER.

I know it doesn't seem that way at first, but think about it seriously , and it does.

Sandra

Quoted from Sandra Elstree. The answer: "It doesn't really matter" is true if you are in omniscient mode. From the perspective of the character who witnesses it however, it DOES MATTER.

Okay, Sandra, I'll rephrase - it doesn't matter that much  

Tough one. Somebody was taking the piss in a script. Yer man doodooha, oh the thing about Beckett, where's my memory gone?

INT. TREE

It was a good point.

If you're inside the stadium then you're on location and not on the street. So I say 'INT.'

p.s. Stevie

Brilliant avatar work bud. But slow it down a little and then it will be almost as good as mine.

RV

I can't RV, it came like that from an av site!  I swap every now and then.

By the way, did you pick the beatle refs in my OWC?

Quoted from rendevous If you're inside the stadium then you're on location and not on the street. So I say 'INT.'

INT. = Interior. This scene takes place indoors.
EXT. = Exterior. This scene takes place outdoors.

Don't mix up INSIDE and INTERIOR.

Oh, and "being on location" just means that you're not in a studio.

Shameless plug [sorry Bill] but, as Michelle would say

Quoted from Michelle from 'The Key' Hmmm.

This one is going to be a matter of opinion no matter how you slice it. There will always be locations that are ambiguous, though typically INT means inside a structure and EXT typically means in the open air. It actually does NOT relate to the location in the slug. Here's a case in point.

EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT

Bob places a pot on the kitchen counter and leans on the stove top. He jerks his hand back, shaking it vigorously.

Can you figure out what this means without a lot of explanation? INT and EXT is one of those times when the screenwriter is allowed to control the camera location. In this example, Bob is clearly inside the house, but since the slug reads EXT, we're watching him from (most likely) outside a window. All the ACTUAL action is really INT HOUSE, but by using EXT, we've told the director that for some reason, the audience is standing outside watching this.

So INT and EXT aren't a notation of where the scene takes place. That information is clarified in the action statements. The slug line is a notation of where the audience is hanging out watching the action. It's your 'we' statement.

So for a stadium, we are aware that we're checking out the stands and this couple talking (or whatever). In a standard stadium, this is going to be in the open air, or outside. Therefore, it will be an exterior shot. I doubt you'd get many people on the street tell you that they when they were at the stadium watching the game that they were inside. The dugout of a baseball stadium can go either way, I would imagine since it's an enclosed area.

Here's where it gets fuzzy. INT and EXT can be relational to other objects within another structure. For instance, you might be INT HOUSE, but you CAN be EXT BEDROOM when you're standing in the hall. Why would you do this. Style, probably. Could be story related. After all, why not say INT HALL? There has to be a reason to do something like that.

So from a standard standpoint, it's most simply inside and outside, but it can get complicated depending on how you're telling your story and how granular you want to get in your sluglines. Personally, I would use EXT and where in the stadium they are, unless it is a covered stadium, and then I'd go with INT. Just me.