Hey everyone.


What do you think of SERIES OF SHOTS/QUICK SHOTS. Do you consider it too filmy/scripty for a spec? Perhaps distracting.

I know at the end of the day - as long as its easy to follow/clear. But I’m on the fence and considering getting rid of them and just suggesting it like this…

John picks up a gun:
- BANG! Fires at the wall.
- Puts the gun down.
- Looks around the room.


My other question of the day…
What do guys think of using music? I read in a book that its okay as long as its relevant and is necessary to whats happening. If its on a radio, you just could do…

     ELVIS PRESLEY (V.O.)
Nothing but a hound dog…

Recently. I’ve just done it like this… and put it in italics.
“New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra.
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today, I want to be a part of it New York, New York...

I read a script on the BL that got a series of 8s that did this…

CUE MUSIC: HOUND DOG - ELVIS PRESLEY
I AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG…

I’m not sure about the caps. But I like the idea of using a little music. I know we were taught not too. And yeah. Clearly, you wouldn’t want to abuse it though.

Be interesting to get everyones thoughts.

TDH

Quoted from The Dark Horse Hey everyone. What do you think of SERIES OF SHOTS/QUICK SHOTS. Do you consider it too filmy/scripty for a spec? Perhaps distracting. I know at the end of the day - as long as its easy to follow/clear. But I’m on the fence and considering getting rid of them and just suggesting it like this… John picks up a gun: - BANG! Fires at the wall. - Puts the gun down. - Looks around the room. My other question of the day… What do guys think of using music? I read in a book that its okay as long as its relevant and is necessary to whats happening. If its on a radio, you just could do…      ELVIS PRESLEY (V.O.) Nothing but a hound dog… Recently. I’ve just done it like this… and put it in italics. “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today, I want to be a part of it New York, New York... I read a script on the BL that got a series of 8s that did this… CUE MUSIC: HOUND DOG - ELVIS PRESLEY I AIN’T NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG… I’m not sure about the caps. But I like the idea of using a little music. I know we were taught not too. And yeah. Clearly, you wouldn’t want to abuse it though. Be interesting to get everyones thoughts. TDH

Not a fan of the series of shots as you have them in the example. Don't see any reason not just to write it straight. But that's me.

Music I tend to avoid due to infringement issues.

Unless the artist, title or lyrics are integral to the plot, I would stick with something generic (An upbeat love song plays on the radio...).

Using “Bad to the Bone” in Terminator 2 had comedic value, and they had the budget to get the rights. But generally you don’t want to give the appearance of painting the production folks into a corner.

Similarly, news or commercials or play-by-play commentary in the background should be generic unless the exact words matter (guy sets up a date with the girl, in the background hockey announcer yells “...and he scores!”; or the “I’d buy that for a dollar!” silliness in Robocop).

If you look at several scripts that use the series of shots, montage or even POV shots, you'll see different techniques used. At the end of the day, there's no rules etched in stone about this on how to get it across as long as it's obvious that it is a series of shots and the action in those shots is a fair representation of how long the screen time is. So for example, you wouldn't write one sentence of action that would actually take about 30 seconds to convey. It would take about 5 seconds.

Personally I headline them when I use them e.g.

SERIES OF SHOTS

A -
B -
C -

BACK TO SCENE

Just to make it clear, but it is up to you.

I'm not a fan of specifying music in a script unless it is integral to the story. One, infringement issues which has already been mentioned, but also you are making a creative decision normally made by someone else on the production. Your job is story, not the soundtrack. You will always find examples of scripts that has done well which do this (and other things considered a bit of a no) but I personally try to avoid it.

I hope that helps.

Hmm. Okay cool.

I think I'll only use SERIES OF SHOTS when desperately necessary. I don't mind it. Just still find it oddly distracting and scripty. We'll see. I'm starting to find each script usually requires something different.

Thanks guys.

I use music in my stories sometimes, and I will mention artists and track names. These things can always be changed later so it doesn't matter what's in the spec so long as it reads well.

Yeah. That's what I thought too.

I read this...
https://blog.finaldraft.com/music-cues-screenplay

Anyways. I might just use a few songs. Make sure they're necessary and not overabuse it. Are yours diegetic??

Yes, it's usually playing on a radio or something, perhaps for irony or to help create atmosphere.

Quoted from DustinBowcot I use music in my stories sometimes, and I will mention artists and track names. These things can always be changed later so it doesn't matter what's in the spec so long as it reads well.

I take an approach similar to Dustin's. Having a script made taught me a lot of things. One of the most important things was that anything I don't mention the first time won't be put in there. As a result, if I want something in the script, I'm going to put it in there and if you want to change that, you're going to have to buy it from me.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde As a result, if I want something in the script, I'm going to put it in there and if you want to change that, you're going to have to buy it from me.

Thanks :)