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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  Cities and countries Moderators: George Willson
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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 11:14am Report to Moderator
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Hey everyone,

I’m not sure what is the best way to signify a change in location that suits my spy thriller.

The film moves around a lot from London, France, etc.

It’s hard-wired in my head to go General to Specific and usually I’d do this…

INT. CANNES - HOTEL ROOM - DAY
EXT. FRENCH RIVERA - OCEAN - DAY
EXT. NICE - BEACH - DAY

But on this occasion.
I’ve done this…

INT. MONTE CARLO CASINO, MONACO - NIGHT
INT. HOTEL ROOM, CANNES - DAY
EXT. OCEAN, FRENCH RIVERA - DAY
EXT. BEACH, NICE - DAY
As far as I know it’s acceptable to do this and to be honest - as long as we know where we are - it doesn’t really matter.

The thing is... I'm worried it's too inconsistent.


Every so often I’ll go..
EXT. BRITISH FIELD
EXT. PARISIAN TAILOR.

Or if I’ve established where we are…
EXT. RESTAURANT, CANNES - DAY
I’ll drop the location from other headings.
INT. HOTEL ROOM
INT. BAR.

And finally, I’m still doing general specific
INT. HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY

Basically I’m trying to make it flow/digestible/be clear without getting you lost.
I also don’t want to do superimposes or anything.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

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jayrex
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 11:21am Report to Moderator
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I’ve never written a script moving from country to country.  If I did I’d use your first example.


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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 11:49am Report to Moderator
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Hmm.

Well Nice is a city in the French Rivera. Would it make more sense to...

EXT. BEACH, NICE - DAY

We move around with years too - so I've reserved brackets for years and flashbacks.

I suppose as long as you know where the hell we are ha

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FrankM
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 12:25pm Report to Moderator
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Not that I've read a huge corpus of produced scripts, but I only recall seeing the general-to-specific format. The exception would be a "City, State" or "City, Country" pair which kinda counts as one element in the general-to-specific progression.

My suggestion would be

EXT. NICE - BEACH - DAY

EXT. LONDON - BUSY STREET - DAY

EXT. HOBOKEN, NJ - COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

but more important than any specific format is consistency and whether the reader knows where he or she is in any given scene. You're supposed to repeat the location exactly whenever you come back to the same spot, so apparently, it's not Kosher to call it NICE - BEACH the first time then BEACH the next time.


Feature-length scripts:
Who Wants to Be a Princess? (Family)
Glass House (Horror anthology)

TV pilots:
"Kord" (Fantasy)
"Mal Suerte" (Superhero)

Additional scripts are listed here.
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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 12:54pm Report to Moderator
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Thanks Frank.

I think I'll go with your suggestion.

Going general to specific and vice versa looks unbelievably messy. And yeah. I absolutely do not want to confuse the reader - especially with something that jumps around a lot.

Lastly. I'm sure I read somewhere it's general to specific for a reason.

I read a script recently that did...
INT. CAFE, GREENWICH VILLAGE - DAY
INT. AGENCY, MIDTOWN - DAY

And... The Constant Gardener. Cast Away. The Good Shepherd.
All do...
INT. BAR, LONDON or whatever.

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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 3:49am Report to Moderator
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This is okay, right?

EXT. ST. JEANNET - VILLA
EXT. RESTAURANT
EXT. BAR

EXT. CANNES - HOTEL - DAY
RESTAURANT

EXT. FRENCH RIVERA, NICE - OCEAN - DAY
SAILBOAT




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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 4:12am Report to Moderator
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How about if you know where someone's house is?

Once I've established...
EXT. ST. JEANNET - BRAD'S VILLA

Every time I go back do I have to mention St. Jennet??

It's a horrible problem but I switch between two resorts and I don't want to keep putting Cannes or St Jennet at the top if we're visiting someone's bedroom.


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The Dark Horse  -  October 28th, 2018, 5:05am
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stevie
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 6:35am Report to Moderator
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I�d just use a SUPER for each countty change

So have:

EXT. BEACH - DAY

action blah blah

SUPER - NICE FRANCE or FRENCH RIVIERA

You’ve established to the reader where it is. If the scenes change to Monaco then do the same

INT. CASINO - NIGHT

action etc

SUPER - MONTE CARLO MONACO



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FrankM
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 10:08am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from stevie
I�d just use a SUPER for each countty change

So have:

EXT. BEACH - DAY

action blah blah

SUPER - NICE FRANCE or FRENCH RIVIERA

You’ve established to the reader where it is. If the scenes change to Monaco then do the same

INT. CASINO - NIGHT

action etc

SUPER - MONTE CARLO MONACO


This is essentially the method I'm using in my 7WC script, and it works unless your story is going to revisiting the cities haphazardly (parallel storylines). If stuff happens in Nice, then happens in Monaco, then happens in Zurich, etc. you only really need to identify the city when there's a jump.


Feature-length scripts:
Who Wants to Be a Princess? (Family)
Glass House (Horror anthology)

TV pilots:
"Kord" (Fantasy)
"Mal Suerte" (Superhero)

Additional scripts are listed here.
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The Dark Horse
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 11:44am Report to Moderator
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Thanks guys.

Well my big problem is that I flick back and forth a lot -- and a lot of these places are like 20 minutes away from each other.

I kind of figured because I have an establishing shot (the first time)..
EXT. EZE - DAY
FRANCIS VILLA

EXT. ST. JEANNET - DAY
BRAD VILLA

I should be okay.

I'd hate to have a horrible header like...
EXT. ST- JEANNET - BRAD'S VILLA - BEDROOM - DAY
Every scene...

But yeah. I don't want to dumb it down for the reader.

Oh cool. FrankM, does your script jump around countries/cities?
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FrankM
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 8:21pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from The Dark Horse
Oh cool. FrankM, does your script jump around countries/cities?


There are basically four distinct stories being told in flashback (look at the 7WC format for why). Each flashback is introduced with a SUPER explaining the city, state and year.

Most locations within a flashback are simple since they're understood to follow the SUPER.

EXT. OPEN MARKETPLACE - DAY

INT. LIZ'S APARTMENT - DAY

INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM - NIGHT

For the more complex locations, it goes from general to specific.

INT. MASTERS HOUSE - LIBRARY - DAY

INT. CHURCH - RECTORY - DAY

INT. FANCY RESTAURANT - POWDER ROOM - DAY


Feature-length scripts:
Who Wants to Be a Princess? (Family)
Glass House (Horror anthology)

TV pilots:
"Kord" (Fantasy)
"Mal Suerte" (Superhero)

Additional scripts are listed here.
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DustinBowcot
Posted: October 29th, 2018, 2:59am Report to Moderator
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SUPER is better because viewers can not see scene headings.
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eldave1
Posted: October 29th, 2018, 8:43pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from DustinBowcot
SUPER is better because viewers can not see scene headings.


Yup.


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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