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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  Screenwriting Class  /  Character inside a car in motion?
Posted by: MarkD, October 1st, 2020, 10:58pm
How would one show a character inside a car which is in motion in spec format?
Posted by: Yuvraj, October 1st, 2020, 11:22pm; Reply: 1
My take will be:

INT. CAR (MOVING) - DAY/NIGHT

Now, introduce your character in the car.

                            OR

You can first show that a car is moving from an EXTERIOR(EXT.) shot and then write,

INT. CAR - DAY/NIGHT

Now, introduce the character in the same way as earlier.

Your call. Good luck.
Posted by: AlsoBen, October 2nd, 2020, 5:23am; Reply: 2
Either

"INT. JOHNNY'S CAR - NIGHT

Johnny and Debra drive down the freeway,"

in which the moving is implied. Or:

"INT. JOHNNY'S CAR (MOVING) - NIGHT

Johnny passes Debra his drink and turn towards an exit."  in which the moving is also implied but now you have a slug so people are extra sure? Redundant.

OR

"INT./EXT. JOHNNY'S CAR/FREE WAY - NIGHT

Bla bla" which seems even more redundant.

Honestly, the simpler the better - most readers are going to assume a scene set inside a car is being driven unless you specify that it is stationary.
Posted by: eldave1, October 2nd, 2020, 3:30pm; Reply: 3

Quoted from AlsoBen
Either

"INT. JOHNNY'S CAR - NIGHT

Johnny and Debra drive down the freeway,"

in which the moving is implied. Or:

"INT. JOHNNY'S CAR (MOVING) - NIGHT

Johnny passes Debra his drink and turn towards an exit."  in which the moving is also implied but now you have a slug so people are extra sure? Redundant.

OR

"INT./EXT. JOHNNY'S CAR/FREE WAY - NIGHT

Bla bla" which seems even more redundant.

Honestly, the simpler the better - most readers are going to assume a scene set inside a car is being driven unless you specify that it is stationary.



Yep. That'll do,


I'll go the INT/EXT route if there are significant things impacting the scene outside the vehicle.
Posted by: MartyA, November 1st, 2020, 12:04am; Reply: 4
what about TRAVELING ?

sigh, thanks google.
Posted by: Zack, November 1st, 2020, 1:00am; Reply: 5
Just put it in the slug. EXAMPLE...

INT. CAR - TRAVELING - DAY

Tim sits behind the wheel, focused on the road before him.
Posted by: MartyA, November 1st, 2020, 1:15am; Reply: 6
thanks, I've been doing this, is that acceptable?

INT. DESERT HIGHWAY – CAR – DAY (TRAVELING)
Posted by: Zack, November 1st, 2020, 1:17am; Reply: 7
Take DESERT HIGHWAY out of the slug, and it's fine. :)
Posted by: spesh2k, November 1st, 2020, 12:50pm; Reply: 8

Quoted Text
thanks, I've been doing this, is that acceptable?

INT. DESERT HIGHWAY – CAR – DAY (TRAVELING)


Take out DESERT HIGHWAY. Describe the surroundings in action description.

And (TRAVELLING) wouldn't be next to DAY. It's the car that's travelling, not the time of day (obviously).

INT. CAR (TRAVELLING) - DAY

Describe the surroundings, eg. desert highway.
Posted by: Zack, November 1st, 2020, 1:22pm; Reply: 9

Quoted from spesh2k


And (TRAVELLING) wouldn't be next to DAY. It's the car that's travelling, not the time of day (obviously).

[/b]


Good catch!
Posted by: MartyA, November 1st, 2020, 4:25pm; Reply: 10
The heading for a scene that takes place inside a moving vehicle should have the word “TRAVELING” appended to it, separated from the time-of-day by a dash:

INT. RENTAL CAR - DAY - TRAVELING

lhttps://www.storysense.com/format/headings.htm

First you said its acceptable, now someone else corrected your comment with a LOL. now youre saying, "good catch"

You guys are all over the place.
Posted by: spesh2k, November 1st, 2020, 4:36pm; Reply: 11
Next time, just Google it yourself instead of asking a bunch of writers who are way more experienced than you. Your "rules" about (travelling) aren't set in stone. There's numerous ways to do it and not be wrong.

I do it my way because, first off, TRAVELLING is not a fucking location. It should be in parenthesis beside the location that is TRAVELLING. The time of day comes last after being separated from the location by a dash. Read more books on screenwriting and read more screenplays and come to your own conclusion. "Story Sense" didn't create the rules of screenwriting.

For someone who doesn't know basic screenwriting 101 shit, you sure have a fucking attitude about it when people are trying to help you. But good luck with everything.

Posted by: Zack, November 1st, 2020, 6:43pm; Reply: 12

Quoted from MartyA


You guys are all over the place.


And yet, you keep coming back and asking us questions.  ::) I really hope you stick around, Marty. You are very entertaining. ;D;D;D
Posted by: eldave1, November 1st, 2020, 9:31pm; Reply: 13

Quoted from MartyA
The heading for a scene that takes place inside a moving vehicle should have the word “TRAVELING” appended to it, separated from the time-of-day by a dash:

INT. RENTAL CAR - DAY - TRAVELING

lhttps://www.storysense.com/format/headings.htm

First you said its acceptable, now someone else corrected your comment with a LOL. now youre saying, "good catch"

You guys are all over the place.


Go away  
Posted by: AlsoBen, November 1st, 2020, 9:47pm; Reply: 14
Marty, if you're really confused why you're getting so many different answer it's because there's actually no rule about petty much anything to do with slugs or demonstrating how a scene is occurring. everyone does it differently.

The key things to remember is how is your reader interpreting the scene and what is important to establish. As I said in my other post, most reader will assume a car is moving unless mentioned otherwise but it's completely understandable to put "travelling" in the slug or do the "int.ext" thing. I do both depending on my mood. No one is going to trash a script because it doesn't follow any particular style, unless it's completely unreadable or unclear.

In terms of your attitude, everyone here is trying help. When you receive negative but constructive feedback on a logline (as I did for you in another one of your posts), it's generally bad form to act in revenge by going to the poster's own scripts and simply saying you hated it (as you did to me in your Downunder logline post). The community here, notwithstanding a few bad eggs, is pretty kind. You're acting in bad faith.
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