Hey,

So I'm writing my feature for this 7wc and I'm at a part where I'd like the screen to cut to black and for a brief moment we just hear sounds. What'd be the best way to write this?

Example:
Jenny sits alone eating her lunch, when all of a sudden the killer comes behind her, grabs her and pulls her away. We then hear sounds of a knife being sharpened, Jenny waking up and screaming (all the while the screen is black).

Hope this is clear enough, and thanks in advance.

Glenn.

Maybe:

Fade to black

Over black we hear...

Something along those lines. Never hurts to experiment as well.

Hope this helps
Gabr

^^ This.

Use a scene transition for the cut/fade to black, then go for the "OVER BLACK--" approach to describe what we hear.

Agreed with Ripley. As long as it's clear you should be fine. I would add in a CUT TO BLACK myself as this sounds like one of the few instances when having a CUT TO is warranted.

Great. Thanks all.

So think I'll go with:

Cut to black:

Over black we hear...

Does that look ok?

Quoted from IamGlenn Great. Thanks all. So think I'll go with: Cut to black: Over black we hear...[Jenny waking up and screaming] Does that look ok?

Mostly, but over black it would only be Jenny screaming.  We would have no indication that she is waking up, or had ever been unconscious at all.

A small nit, but just saying.

Yeah, you'll only have sounds to describe which could be tricky if yo're not careful. A thud on the wooden floor. A shrill scream. A door being bolted. etc

Do we go black in her place and she wakes up in her place or we go black and she wakes some other place? Following Bert's comment, what happens. Going black as she is thumped with something is continuity, then cut to black, noises, fade in as Jenny wakes and her eyes adjust to...Dad? Hi hon. Cappuccino? Just fixed the machine.

What i used as an example is just that, an example. It's not from my story. But yeah, the person in my story is in another place when it cuts to black.

And yeah, I'll just describe the sounds heard and not what we can't see.

CUT TO BLACK:, FADE OUT: read different dramatic effects to me. If she's passing out, I would fade out. Cutting to black is more abrupt.

Either way, I would actually just use a mini slug since blackness is neither interior nor exterior.

Jenny sits alone. The killer approaches, lunges...

BLACKNESS

A fart. A giggle. A sniff. A moan

EXT. STREET - DAY

Jenny awakens to find herself in the gutter, her britches freshly soiled.


My two cents anyway.

James