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Cities and countries (currently 386 views) |
The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 11:14am |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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 |
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Old Timer Cut to three weeks earlier
LocationLondon, UK Posts1420 Posts Per Day 0.22 |
I’ve never written a script moving from country to country. If I did I’d use your first example. |
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Reply: 1 - 12 |
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The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 11:49am |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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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Reply: 2 - 12 |
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FrankM |
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 12:25pm |
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January Project Group
LocationBetween Chair and Keyboard Posts1447 Posts Per Day 0.63 |
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. |
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Reply: 3 - 12 |
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The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 27th, 2018, 12:54pm |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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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Reply: 4 - 12 |
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The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 3:49am |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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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Reply: 5 - 12 |
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The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 4:12am |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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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Revision History (1 edits) |
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Reply: 6 - 12 |
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stevie |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 6:35am |
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Of The Ancients
LocationDown Under Posts3441 Posts Per Day 0.61 |
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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Reply: 7 - 12 |
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FrankM |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 10:08am |
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January Project Group
LocationBetween Chair and Keyboard Posts1447 Posts Per Day 0.63 |
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. |
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Reply: 8 - 12 |
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The Dark Horse |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 11:44am |
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Posts103 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
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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Reply: 9 - 12 |
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FrankM |
Posted: October 28th, 2018, 8:21pm |
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January Project Group
LocationBetween Chair and Keyboard Posts1447 Posts Per Day 0.63 |
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 |
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Reply: 10 - 12 |
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DustinBowcot |
Posted: October 29th, 2018, 2:59am |
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Guest User
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SUPER is better because viewers can not see scene headings. |
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Reply: 11 - 12 |
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eldave1 |
Posted: October 29th, 2018, 8:43pm |
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January Project Group
LocationSouthern California Posts6874 Posts Per Day 1.95 |
Quoted from DustinBowcot SUPER is better because viewers can not see scene headings. |
Yup. |
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Reply: 12 - 12 |
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