Set/Scenes
B.g
Background, describes anything happening in the background of the scene
Character
the character’s name appears in ALL CAPS the first time the character appears; whenever a character speaks, their name appears in ALL CAPS
Angle On
means what the camera sees, and there are specific types.
For example, ANGLE ON TOMMY means we see Tommy on the screen. HIGH ANGLE means the camera is above the subject and LOW ANGLE means the subject is shot from below
Action
scene description, character movement, and sounds described in the screenplay
EXT.
exterior setting: the scene takes place outdoors
Shot
one image; there are many, many, many different types of shots
CLOSE ON or C.U
Close-up; indicates a shot that focuses in closely on a particular subject, character, or action
CUT TO or DISSOLVE TO =
simply a change in scene. We can either quickly "cut" to a new scene (immediate), or we can "dissolve"-- a slow blackening of the screen, followed by a slow re-lighting in the new scene
INT
interior setting: the scene occurs in is indoors
Beat
used to suggest that an actor should pause before continuing; “beat” will be placed in parentheses – ex: (beat)
ESTABLISHING SHOT
a shot from a distance that establishes the location; it shows the viewer where we are
FADE IN /FADE TO =
an editing transition whereby an image gradually appears on the screen; usually a film script begins with this.
Scene
an event that takes place in one location or time; every time you change location or time it’s a new scene; scenes are indicated by slug lines
Parenthetica
direction for the actor to deliver their lines in a particular way; ex: (calmly) or (softly)
O.C./O.S.
off-camera/off-screen; can refer to spoken dialogue, but the person speaking is not "in the shot;" they are off-screen, but we hear it anyway
FLASHBACK
used as a transition or at the start of the slug line to indicate a sequence that happened in the past; may be followed by BACK TO PRESENT DAY
Slug Line
the text in ALL CAPS at the beginning of a scene that described the location and time of day; slug lines are always short and direct and begin with either “INT.” or “EXT.”, ex: INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
P.O.V
point-of-view; the position from which an action of subject is seen, often determining its significance. Ex: Jeff's POV, it means "what Jeff sees" (the camera shows us what Jeff sees)
Pan
the camera moves across something; whip/swish/flash pan is when the camera moves quickly across something; a slow pan is when the camera moves slowly across something. Ex: "We PAN down a row of baseball players on the bench.", the camera moves down the row of players
Montage
a series of shots, usually without dialogue, which quickly tells a section of the story. In Rocky, when Rocky goes through his training for the championship fight in a training montage -- we see (push-ups, pull-ups, running, sparring, etc.) a series of shots which condense time (these all occur over a two-week period in real time) down to a few seconds or minutes on screen