I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've come to a point in my script where I'm not sure how to handle the formatting. This is the scenerio:


INT. MENS RESTOOM - MORNING

Ed slams through the door of a quite well maintained restroom. He rushes over to the cubicles and enters one rapidly closing the door behind him.

A belt unbuckling is heard as is a zipper being unzipped.


I need to go from there to inside the actual cubicle he's in. How do I do this? Do I need to do this...? :

INT. MENS RESTROOM - CUBICLE

Or... I'm not sure....? Can anyone help with this please?

INT. MEN'S RESTROOM - CUBICLE

is fine

so is

INT. CUBICLE

you could even do without the slugline altogether and just decribe what happens in the cubicle...

Thanks very much for your help Dr. Mabuse. Much appreciated.

Another alternative is when you go into the restroom, you use a secondary heading to get into the cubicle.

INT. MEN'S RESTROOM - DAY

Ed slams through the door of a quite well maintained restroom. He rushes over to the cubicles and enters one rapidly closing the door behind him.

A belt unbuckling is heard as is a zipper being unzipped.

IN THE CUBICLE

Ed pulls a wad of cash out of his underpants. The former defined bulge disappears completely. Ed is a woman!

OUTSIDE THE CUBICLE

Edwina exits the stall wearing a dress and then slips out the main door into the restaurant.

Yeah, George's way is the format I use.

I use a lot of

IN THE ....

OUTSIDE THE ....

LATER

I feel that too many INT. in the same location can become confusing.  In a lot of scripts I read, they hardly ever repeat the same slugline for the same location.

It makes it simpler and signifies a different camera angle more naturally without having to say "the camera" or "we see"  

You basicallly write it like you would write a sentence, but you're making those few essential location-oriented words stand out. The formatting rules say that you can begin a sentence with a secondary header, you can have one in the middle of a sentence, but you can't end a sentence with one.

Quoted from George Willson Another alternative is when you go into the restroom, you use a secondary heading to get into the cubicle. INT. MEN'S RESTROOM - DAY Ed slams through the door of a quite well maintained restroom. He rushes over to the cubicles and enters one rapidly closing the door behind him. A belt unbuckling is heard as is a zipper being unzipped.

FAAAAARRRRT...

                ED
     (muttering)
Damnnnnn....



Phil

George is right by some standards.  Others say you HAVE TO start a different Slug when you INT from an EXT, backwards, or even an INT to another INT.  In this case, a secondary slug seems to be the right fit.

Also, you don't need to establish it's a clean restroom.  It is a default if you say RESTROOM in the slug.  You would state that it is dirty if it is important to the scene like in TRAINSPOTTING.  Other than that, it will always be clean.

For instance, if before the MEN'S RESTROOM slug you have it in a trendy restaurant in NY, then it is a given it will always be clean and not worth mentioning.