I am new to writng screenplays and I am having difficulty in bridging time between scenes that happen many years apart.  For instance,  first scene takes place in 1946.  The next scene takes place in 1954.  I want to put a few events in that happened in these years but how is the best way to do that? Should I use a voice over and have a narrator describe those events with a backdrop of action similiar to what the narrator is saying.  if not how is the best or most accepted way to bridge large time gaps between important scenes without having to go into too much detail.  Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.  Marvin.

Best way is to find something to show the year. Could be a clock or a newspaper or even a radio voiceover. If an approximate year is okay, just the style of the technology, society, and dress will show the year. 1946 would be right after WWII while 1954 would be right after Korea. Each would have its own distinctive flavor to it, and if a character mentions these events, your year is very nearly pinpointed without ever showing the number. A narrator would be a last resort, since at the very least you could have a character mention the year in passing.

Once you've established the years, you won't really need to worry about it again as long as your characters are consistent in these times.

From a formatting perspective (in order to keep it straight on the page), your slugs would be like this:

EXT. STREET - DAY - 1946

INT. HOUSE - NIGHT - 1954

And so on throughout the entire script since you said you're flipping back and forth a lot. Hope that helped.

George, thanks for your reply and I see what you mean.  However the problem is I would like to show events going on between these two dates without stopping to create entire scenes.  I'll be specific.. I am working on a screenplay, about a serial killer, based on a true story.  The main character was born in 1946. When he is three months old his father savagely beat him and was arrested and taken to jail. I wrote a scene depicting this event. Then the next scene is in 1954 when both of the characters parents are arrested for writing bad checks.  The main character and his 6 brothers and sisters are sent to live with the grandparents. But there are things between 1946 and 1954, I'd like the audience to know.  Their was a lot of abuse in the household.  The father was very cruel and was never at home etc.  After the 1954 scene then the next big event is three years later when the main charaters and his 4 brothers are sent to the boys home. This is the sort of time problems I'm trying to overcome.  Should I use a narrator over scenes in the background to bridge the gap to the main scenes?  Thanks for your help.  Marvin.  

Can you treat the earlier date as a flashback?  That might be the clearest approach.  If not keep repeating the slugs George mentioned above.

Quoted from marvink George, thanks for your reply and I see what you mean.  However the problem is I would like to show events going on between these two dates without stopping to create entire scenes.  I'll be specific.. I am working on a screenplay, about a serial killer, based on a true story.  The main character was born in 1946. When he is three months old his father savagely beat him and was arrested and taken to jail. I wrote a scene depicting this event. Then the next scene is in 1954 when both of the characters parents are arrested for writing bad checks.  The main character and his 6 brothers and sisters are sent to live with the grandparents. But there are things between 1946 and 1954, I'd like the audience to know.  Their was a lot of abuse in the household.  The father was very cruel and was never at home etc.  After the 1954 scene then the next big event is three years later when the main charaters and his 4 brothers are sent to the boys home. This is the sort of time problems I'm trying to overcome.  Should I use a narrator over scenes in the background to bridge the gap to the main scenes?  Thanks for your help.  Marvin.

You kind of just did it. Break it up.

MONTAGE

--The main character was born in 1946 (calendar on the wall, clothes).

--When he is three months old his father savagely beat him and was arrested and taken to jail.

--Then the next scene is in 1954 (cars, clothes, calendar on the wall) when both of the characters parents are arrested for writing bad checks.

--abuse in the household.  The father was very cruel and was never at home etc.

--The main character and his 6 brothers and sisters are sent to live with the grandparents.

PRESENT DAY

Main character breaks out of Gamma's and finds his father and beats the piss out him , knocking him to the ground, then spits on him, then kicks him a few times, then douses him with lighter fluid and lights him on fire, then main character lights a cigarette on the acrid flames. Main character puffs his cigarette a bit, warming his hands on the flames, then walks into the dark.

mcornetto, thanks for your reply. Yes, the 1946 scene is in fact a flashback.  I start in 1969 with a court scene, where they find my main character guilty and he is senrenced to death. Then I flashback to 1946. It is his story that makes this piece so compelling in my opinion, so I want to lay the foundation of how, because of his childhood and his upbringing he became  a serial killer. My problem is there is so much background information, I'm at a loss to decide which pieces of his past to use.  Thanks again for your reply, Marvin.

Hey cloroxmartini, like your little story at the end of your post. Could be a short screenpaly or something there.  Thanks for your advice.  I will sit down with all of your replies and see what i can do. Marvin.

If they're just supposed to span time and move quickly then a montage is the way to go. To clarify years at that kind of pace without a narrator, you could just throw in a subtitle for the year (although they are written as super-titles):

SUPER: 1946 or SUPER THE TITLE: 1946

It depends a lot on how much you want to do as to whether you should use the MONTAGE format that Clorox puts up, or just write it out as a series of scenes. Either way is completely valid. The montage is for short, quick scenes that require minimal setup, dialogue, or action. However, the same effect can be gained by just writing the scenes with your regular slugs just in case there's a lot of action to cover, dialogue involved, or in case the SUPER lines become distracting. You'll probably want to go with the scenes if a narrator is absolutely necessary.

Both ways would work equally well.

George, thanks for your help. I appreciate it.  Marvin.