Hey guys,

Quick question. When should "continuous" absolutely be in a scene header? Are they ever necessary? Sorry if this is a dumb question. :P

Zack

Not a dumb question since I gather that this slug element is overused a bit.

CONTINUOUS means that no story time has elapsed whatsoever between two scenes, which is a hint to the continuity folks to bring their A-Game since the scenes could easily be shot days or months apart.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

Roger stares out his window, arms crossed, scowling.

O.S. THUD, and Roger races outside.

EXT. PORCH - CONTINUOUS

Roger sees that the newspaper landed in his prized flowers. Again.



If the two scenes are not really related (scene in the Batcave then a scene in the Penguin's Lair), it'd be wrong to use CONTINUOUS unless there's a ticking time bomb scenario where on-set clocks need to be synchronized.

Thanks for the reply, Frank. Much appreciated.

Quoted from FrankM If the two scenes are not really related (scene in the Batcave then a scene in the Penguin's Lair), it'd be wrong to use CONTINUOUS unless there's a ticking time bomb scenario where on-set clocks need to be synchronized.

What about a scene jumping back and forth between the interior of two vehicles? Both vehicles are driving down the same road, one after another.

Zack

Quoted from Zack Thanks for the reply, Frank. Much appreciated. What about a scene jumping back and forth between the interior of two vehicles? Both vehicles are driving down the same road, one after another. Zack

I'd use Intercut and let the editor decide how to cut the scenes together. Just describe the pertinent details occurring in each vehicle and make it clear so there's no confusion what's happening in which vehicle.

The way I was taught (and I’m still learning a s there are many ways to do things) is that continuous should never be used in a scene heading - only in a sub scene.

I>E>

INT. House - Morning

BEDROOM

John gets up. Goes into the ...

BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

If John was to leave the house then it would read

EXT. House - Morning

John exits his house.

Or you may use INT./EXT. HOUSE - MORNING

And combine the two into SUBSCENES and use CONTINUOUS

Also - since the action is black and white in the above subscenes - continuous can be omitted
And understood.

I'm not an expert, but personally I only use CONTINUOUS if I think it's unclear from the script that there's no jump in time between the two scenes.  For example, in FrankM's example above, I probably wouldn't use CONTINUOUS.  As soon as the reader reads the very first sentence after EXT. PORCH, it's pretty clear that the two scenes are happening with no time jump between.  However, if FrankM did have a few lines describing what the porch looks like, before telling us what Roger does on the porch, then CONTINUOUS could maybe be necessary, depending on how distracting from the flow you felt the porch descriptions were.

Also, usually when I have a line of action that calls for a character to physically move from one scene to the next, I like to add "into-" or "onto-" at the end.  So again, in FrankM's example, I'd change the third line to be "O.S. THUD, and Roger races outside, onto-"

I think a line like that helps pull the reader onto the next slugline while at the same time making it clear that the two scenes are continuous, without CONTINUOUS having to be written out.

Quoted from FrankM CONTINUOUS means that no story time has elapsed whatsoever between two scenes ...

...but also be cautious that it means two scenes are happening at the same time, too:

Int. house - day
Tim searches for his whatever

Ext. garden - continuous
Tina searches among the petunias

I recently read a screenplay that the author used the word CONTINUOUS in place of DAY or NIGHT on subsequent scene headings. WHY? I mean DAY = 3 letters and NIGHT = 5 letters and he uses CONTINUOUS = 9 letters!  Why NOT just stick to DAY and NIGHT?

On top of that, CONTINUOUS is used in the second scene then the next scene is a time change DAY to NIGHT vis versa changing the time.

Another head scratcher is that at times the CONTINUOUS may run from scene to scene for many pages and I have to go back the several pages to recall the time of day.

I wonder if CONTINUOUS supposed to be some COOL way to make a screenplay look eh - like a screenplay.

I’m sure someone has a COOL explanation for the continuous use of CONTINUOUS.

Couldn't you avoid using this by formatting a real-time sequence?


INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Someone does some sort of activity, then moves to the

LIVING ROOM

and plops down on the couch.

A sudden urge to pee hit him and he bolts toward the

BATHROOM

Quoted from Steven Couldn't you avoid using this by formatting a real-time sequence? INT. KITCHEN - DAY Someone does some sort of activity, then moves to the LIVING ROOM and plops down on the couch. A sudden urge to pee hit him and he bolts toward the BATHROOM

As far as I know, sub-heads are technically shots within a master scene, so my intuition is that they'd need to be locations within the scene's location like a kitchen's COUNTER, TABLE, and TRASHCAN. An intercut knits together two (or more) distinct scenes. Though I have seen subheads used as you described (assuming each location has been in a scene before) without attracting criticism, but I don't think it's correct.

Quoted from FrankM As far as I know, sub-heads are technically shots within a master scene, so my intuition is that they'd need to be locations within the scene's location like a kitchen's COUNTER, TABLE, and TRASHCAN. An intercut knits together two (or more) distinct scenes. Though I have seen subheads used as you described (assuming each location has been in a scene before) without attracting criticism, but I don't think it's correct.

I get what you're saying. I used this method before but have since stopped. Like if you're within a house (master scene), the other rooms would be the sub-headers...I guess. I think it all depends on whether or not the way it's presented is clear.

Quoted from Steven I think it all depends on whether or not the way it's presented is clear.

This is all that matters.

If you have mini-slugs or sub-headers and keep flipping between those two locations within a location, by all means use intercut if the flipping is annoying. Intercut isn't just for phone conversations, it's an editing prompt. Just make sure everything is clear to the reader and eventually the director.

Quoted from CrackedAces I’m sure someone has a COOL explanation for the continuous use of CONTINUOUS.

Continuous means the action of the scene is continuous into the next scene. Zero time passes.

Someone walks out of a house and CONTINUOUS now we're outside and they haven't missed a stride.

Quoted from ReneC Continuous means the action of the scene is continuous into the next scene. Zero time passes. Someone walks out of a house and CONTINUOUS now we're outside and they haven't missed a stride.

Yep - that's it.

And many times not needed because of the overall clarity rule you already cited. i.e., sometimes it is obvious no time has passed (e.g., there's a ring of the door bell - when the next scene is the salesman on the porch we already know it is same time, etc.).

Quoted from eldave1 And many times not needed because of the overall clarity rule you already cited. i.e., sometimes it is obvious no time has passed (e.g., there's a ring of the door bell - when the next scene is the salesman on the porch we already know it is same time, etc.).

I use it even when it's obvious. However, I only use it when it's important that the action is continuous. If it doesn't matter, then I don't bother with the beats exiting one location and entering another.

If an editor can trim a little off either side of a transition (even a few seconds), then it's not continuous. The action should all be important through the transition.

Quoted from ReneC I use it even when it's obvious. However, I only use it when it's important that the action is continuous. If it doesn't matter, then I don't bother with the beats exiting one location and entering another. If an editor can trim a little off either side of a transition (even a few seconds), then it's not continuous. The action should all be important through the transition.

I don't use it when it's obvious. That's just me. You're way would still be clear.

Does this help at all?:

http://screenreads.com/formatting/subheadings/continuous.html

Quoted from tjalex Does this help at all?: http://screenreads.com/formatting/subheadings/continuous.html

Good article. Thanks