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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  Screenwriting Class  /  How the heck do u use Cont'd
Posted by: Toran, March 12th, 2006, 1:34am
Okay working on my script "Horror House" i was wondering how do u use "Cont'd"
Posted by: George Willson, March 12th, 2006, 1:47am; Reply: 1
CONT'D is more or less a term that isn't used much anymore, but it has some uses. It's primary purpose is to bridge a dialogue gap between pages in conjuction with MORE. Kind of like this:

           PRESIDENT DUBYA
Makes a big long speech full of
archaeic terms and strange myticisms
and when he hereby gets to the
bottom of the page, he finds out
            (MORE)

------------------Page Break -----------

            PRESIDENT DUBYA (CONT'D)
that he really couldn't talk very well any
way and his speechwriters all abandoned
him for Paris Hilton videos. And that, ladies
and gentlemen, is why my father is no
longer the president.


A better way to handle page breaks over dialogue is, if the dialogue isn't over long, to simply page break the dialogue to the next page in its entirety and skip the use of MORE/CONT'D entirely. If the dialogue is a really long monologue, using it is a good idea.

The other way CONT'D can be used, but isn't anymore because it's redundant is to remind the reader that the character said something right before the last action paragraph. As such:

          DINA
What is this?

Dina picks up an urn full of ashes.

          DINA (CONT'D)
I told grampa that he'd smoke
himself to death.


However, this has mostly fallen into disuse since it is kind of obvious that Dina is still talking. Hope that answers it for you.
Posted by: dogglebe (Guest), March 12th, 2006, 8:32am; Reply: 2
Some software packages will do it automatically after page breaks.  You don't have to.


Phil
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