Script writing question

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by Ian Poirier :

There's no need for the CUT TO:'s at this point unless it's a shooting script and even then sometimes scenes are just numbered to show cuts. It saves on pages. Anytime the is an INT. or EXT. there is a new scene. In fact what a lot of people do if it's all one shot or scene say in a house where two people are in different rooms is

IN THE BATHROOM

She's putting on her makeup.

IN THE BEDROOM

He hasn't woken up yet. -->>>

When I was writing my Lady-X script I was using an early draft of Silence of the Lambs as a model and I totally got into the groove of this kind of breakdown. It makes writing really fast and it still conveys all you need to know.

[Rob Lohman]

I've read a lot of scripts in digital form. I even COMPLETELY
wrote The Sixth Sense script in FinalDraft (from an internet page)
to get the feel of it. I also have The Screenwriters Bible and
a year subscription of Scr(i)pt magazine. It has been a while
that I've referenced all that and was just wondering how to
do this particular thing.....

I liked Kevin's and Roberts version the most. I'm currently in
the process of working out my story and what scenes there
are (the scene we are describing here will most likely be in it)
before actually writing it.

The most unclear part for me was how to begin writing this
scene since it is black and we don't actually see anything but
only "hear" the footsteps running. Since it isn't visual (it will
be onscreen, but not in the script) I was wondering about the
best approach so to speak.

[Andres Lucero]

"OPEN ON BLACK" or simply "BLACKNESS" would work as the scene heading. Below that describe the sounds you want to hear ("Footsteps echo in the darkness"). Should be fairly straightforward with all the samples people have contributed.

As Ian points out, there aren't many real rules in screenwriting, it's just a matter of preference and what you think works best for the scene.

That said, "we see" is still overused and useless IMO. Most bad screenplays I've read online have suffered from uninteresting, unoriginal description - using "we see" and "cut to" and "angle on" instead of creating a compelling visual image for the reader. Not only does it make the screenplay boring to read, but it's a sign that the characters and situations are probably boring as well.

[Keith Loh]

I had a chance to read Steve Zaillian's script for "Schindler's List" and wow, the *prose* in that script is just wonderful. A real pleasure to read.

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

Irritatingly, Zaillian seems not to appreciate the distinction between active and passive voice. List's descriptions vacillate between the two at random: good script, bad English lesson. This awkward inconsistency may have been a product of the script's many rewrites. (Zaillian is known as a script doctor more than anything else.)

[Keith Loh]

Well, script writing is a refuge for people who are lazy with grammar... :)