SHOT HEADINGS

Also called scene headings and slug lines, shot headings can provide a wide variety of information about a given scene or shot. They are always typed in capital letters. They can be short and sweet:

BOB

Or long and complicated:

EXT. WHITE HOUSE — SOUTH LAWN — CLOSE ON CNN
CORRESPONDENT — SUNSET (MARCH 15, 1999)

An important caveat

This chapter illustrates the proper use of a great variety of shot headings, from reverse angles to underwater shots. If you have a compelling reason to use one of these shots, this section shows how to do so in a professional, time-honored manner. However, the fundamental rule stands: Use as few shot headings as possible, and keep them as simple as you can. Most scenes require only a master shot heading, that is a single slug line to establish the location and time of day, like this:

EXT. CENTRAL PARK — DAY

The action and dialogue of the scene can then flow without further interruption, and without any additional shots being specified. Effective writers avoid overloading their pages with unnecessary, or overcomplicated, shot headings.

Sometimes, though, additional information must be included in a shot heading, or additional shot headings are needed to tell the story clearly and forcefully. This chapter explains how to determine when to use a new shot heading, which information should be included, and how that information should be arranged.

The five parts of a shot heading

Shot headings consist of up to five basic categories of information: 1) interior or exterior, 2) location; 3) type of shot; 4) subject of shot; and 5) time of day.

Interior or Exterior

A shot heading may begin with the abbreviation EXT., which stands for exterior. It tells us the scene takes place outdoors, a critical piece of information for anyone involved in production since most exterior scenes are shot outdoors rather than inside a sound stage.

The abbreviation INT. stands for interior and tells us the scene takes place indoors. Interior scenes are often shot on a stage.

INT. and EXT. are always capitalized and followed by a period and a single space, like this:

INT. SPACE STATION

Not:

INT. SPACE STATION

Int. Space Station

INT: SPACE STATION

INT SPACE STATION

INT — SPACE STATION

Once in a while, a scene takes place both inside and outside. Let’s say Molly, a sweet, ordinary girl, is locked in a battle with a wolverine while she’s driving her Ferrari along the Hollywood Freeway and will be climbing onto the hood of her car during the shot. There are a couple of ways to set that up:

EXT. HOLLYWOOD FREEWAY/INT. MOLLY’S FERRARI — DAY

Steering with her bare feet, Molly hoists herself through the open window, wildly swinging her purse at the rabid wolverine.

Or:

EXT./INT. MOLLY’S FERRARI — DAY

Racing along the Hollywood Freeway. Steering with her feet, Molly hoists herself through the open window, wildly swinging her purse at the rabid wolverine.

Note that EXT./INT. contains a period after each abbreviation.

Sometimes writers are unsure whether a scene should be designated INT. or EXT. Our hero may have just climbed out of his car — after driving it into his garage. EXT. CAR isn’t the correct designation because the scene is actually taking place inside the garage. Correct shot headings in this case include INT. GARAGE - OUTSIDE CAR or simply INT. GARAGE.

What if a scene is taking place inside an open-air stadium? It’s still outdoors, so it’s EXT.:

EXT. FENWAY PARK — UPPER DECK

Not:

INT. FENWAY PARK — UPPER DECK

Just think “INT. for indoors” and “EXT. for outdoors” and you’ll know what to do.

An important rule: If you use a designation of INT. or EXT., you must always follow it immediately with a location:

EXT. GOLDEN GATE PARK — JACK

Not:

EXT. JACK IN GOLDEN GATE PARK

EXT. JACK

EXT. DAY

EXT. WIDE SHOT — JACK

Location

Location tells us where the scene takes place:

EXT. SURFACE OF MOON — TRANQUILITY BASE

INT. MUSTANG — TRUNK SPACE

INT. HONOLULU HILTON — PRESIDENTIAL SUITE — BATHROOM

EXT. FRED’S BACK YARD

An important rule: A shot heading may contain just one location element or several, but those elements are always listed in order from general to specific, with each element separated by a hyphen (single space, hyphen, single space), like so:

EXT. LOS ANGELES — DOWNTOWN — BONAVENTURE HOTEL — LOADING DOCK

Not:

INT. DRESSING ROOM — STARLET’S TRAILER

    (This one gets it backward, starting specific then going general.)

CORN FIELD — FARM — IOWA

    (Again, the order is backward, and the hyphens are wrong.)

EXT. MANHATTAN STREET. SCENE OF CAR ACCIDENT. SOHO.

    (The order here is scrambled and the hyphens have been replaced by periods.)

When an interior location includes a city name, put the city name in parentheses after the main location entry:

INT. RAMSHACKLE WAREHOUSE (HONOLULU) — DAY

INT. HOTEL ADLON (BERLIN) — 7TH FLOOR GUEST ROOM — NIGHT

Type of shot

Sometimes a writer wants to indicate a specific type of shot. There are many: establishing shots, wide shots, close shots, tracking shots, extreme closeups, insert shots, underwater shots, POV shots and more. How frequently new shot headings should be inserted is a matter of much controversy and confusion. For now, we will list each type of shot and how each is properly formatted. Later, we will discuss some guidelines both practical and stylistic that will help writers decide when new shots should and should not be used.

Closeup

A closeup shot indicates that the camera is focusing closely on a subject. Close shots can be set up in a variety of ways. Each of the following is correct:

CLOSE — RUDOLPH’S NOSE

CLOSE SHOT — RUDOLPH’S NOSE

CLOSEUP — RUDOLPH’S NOSE

CLOSE ON RUDOLPH’S NOSE

CLOSE ANGLE ON RUDOLPH’S NOSE

Note that CLOSE, CLOSE SHOT and CLOSEUP are all followed by a hyphen, while CLOSE ON and CLOSE ANGLE ON are not. Note also that CLOSEUP is one word, not two.

Extreme closeup

A variant of the closeup is the extreme closeup:

EXTREME CLOSEUP — IRIS OF WILLIAM’S LEFT EYE

Insert shot

An insert shot is a special kind of closeup featuring a prop to show some important detail. Often an insert shot focuses on the written text of a sign, book or note:

JOHN

rips the envelope and pulls out a birthday card. He opens it.

INSERT — CARD

Words scrawled in burgundy lipstick: “ENJOY YOUR BIRTHDAY. IT’S YOUR LAST.”

BACK TO SCENE

John reacts with alarm. He takes a closer look at the envelope.

Note that after an insert shot, a new shot heading is necessary to bring us back into the main action. Back to scene is a useful, generic shot heading to accomplish that.

Wide shot

A wide shot moves the camera away from the subject and takes in a swath of scenery. Wide shots can be set up in any of the following ways:

WIDE — RACETRACK AND EMPTY STANDS

WIDE SHOT — RACETRACK AND EMPTY STANDS

WIDE ANGLE — RACETRACK AND EMPTY STANDS

WIDE ON RACETRACK AND EMPTY STANDS

WIDE ANGLE ON RACETRACK AND EMPTY STANDS

As before, when the preposition “on” is used, a hyphen is not.

Medium shot

Between the wide shot and the closeup is the medium shot, abbreviated MED. SHOT. Its subject is always one or more characters and it comes in only one flavor, like so:

MED. SHOT — JACK AND ROSE

Not:

MEDIUM SHOT — JACK AND ROSE
    (Don’t spell out MEDIUM.)

MED. SHOT ON JACK AND ROSE
    (Don’t use the preposition ON)

MED. — JACK AND ROSE
    (Don’t omit the word SHOT)

An important reminder: Just because a shot type exists doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use it, for many of the same reasons you shouldn’t use every word in the dictionary in casual conversation. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which a writer would need to specify a medium shot, two shot or three shot. But should that occasion arise, this is how it’s done.

Two and three shot

A two shot is framed to feature two characters. A three shot features three characters:

TWO SHOT — BRUTUS AND CAESAR

THREE SHOT — MANNY, MOE AND JACK

Not:

BRUTUS AND CAESAR — TWO SHOT
    (The subject of the shot should follow the type of shot.)

THREE SHOT OF MANNY, MOE AND JACK
    (Use a hyphen instead of the word OF)

Establishing shot

An establishing shot is used to show the exterior of a location, usually a building of some kind, inside which the next scene will take place. In a true establishing shot, no action specific to the story takes place and no recognizable characters appear. It is simply a shot that establishes the identity of the building we are about to go inside and the time of day. It can be set up like this:

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — ESTABLISHING SHOT — DAY

The parking lot is empty.

CUT TO:

INT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE

Bertie mops the floor.

The following are also correct:

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — DAY

ESTABLISHING. The parking lot is empty.

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — ESTABLISHING — DAY

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — DAY (ESTABLISHING)

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — TO ESTABLISH — DAY

Not:

EXT. BERTIE’S BREWHOUSE — ESTABLISHING — DAY

Bertie trudges outside and dumps a bucket of dirty water.

(If you have specific characters or action in the shot like we do here, it is not an establishing shot. Just drop the word “establishing” and you’ve got a perfectly formatted scene.)

Tracking and moving shot

In a tracking shot, the camera moves with the action. Closely related is the moving shot. All of the following are correct:

TRACKING SHOT — MAN OF WAR

gallops down the back stretch, kicking up heavy clumps o f mud.

TRACKING SHOT

Man of War gallops down the back stretch, kicking up heavy clumps of mud.

INT. MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE — MOVING — DAY

EXT. FIFTH AVENUE — MOVING SHOT — GRETA AND CURTIS

MOVING WITH PARADE FLOAT

TRACKING MAN OF WAR

Not:

MOVING WITH — PARADE FLOAT
    (The preposition WITH eliminates the need for the hyphen.)

TRACKING — MAN OF WAR
    (Either add the word SHOT after TRACKING or eliminate the hyphen.)

Aerial shot

An aerial shot is photographed from the air:

AERIAL SHOT — BEACHES OF NORMANDY

EXT. BEACHES OF NORMANDY — AERIAL SHOT — D—DAY

Underwater shot

An underwater shot can be formatted in a couple of different ways:

INT. GIANT AQUARIUM — MOVING WITH SHARK (UNDERWATER) — DAY

UNDERWATER SHOT — DECK OF SUNKEN FREIGHTER

New angle

Sometimes a writer may want to indicate a new angle within an existing scene without specifying exactly what sort of angle it is. These shot headings may be formatted as follows:

NEW ANGLE

NEW ANGLE — BALL FIELD

ANGLE — PANTING GOLDEN RETRIEVER

ANGLE ON SOPHIA

Sometimes ANGLE ON is shortened to just ON:

EXT. VENICE BEACH — ON SOPHIA — DAY

ON MIKE’S CLENCHED FIST

Note that ANGLE or NEW ANGLE should be used only within an existing scene, after a location has already been established. In other words, a scene that begins with the shot heading EXT. DODGERS STADIUM - DAY can later include the shot headings NEW ANGLE - SCOREBOARD and ANGLE ON UMPIRE, but not the shot headings NEW ANGLE - PORPOISES AT SEA or ANGLE ON HOLLYWOOD SIGN.

Up angle and down angle

An up angle indicates that the camera is shooting upward, while a down angle indicates that the camera is shooting down toward its subject:

UP ANGLE — GOLIATH

DOWN ANGLE — TINY TIM

High angle and low angle

A high angle indicates that the camera is placed up high, while a low angle indicates that the camera is placed down low:

HIGH ANGLE

HIGH ANGLE — LOOKING DOWN ON BATTLEFIELD

LOW ANGLE

LOW ANGLE — LOOKING UP TOWARD ROOFTOPS

Reverse angle

A reverse angle is used to indicate that we have cut to a shot in which the camera is shooting in the opposite direction from the previous shot. It is used in a sequence like this one:

BATTER

swings his bat and connects with the baseball.

REVERSE ANGLE

The ball rockets past the pitcher into centerfield.

Here’s another example:

INT. LIVING ROOM — CHRISTMAS MORNING

The little girl steps through the doorway and looks into the room with delicious expectation. But her face instantly falls.

REVERSE ANGLE — CHRISTMAS TREE

Bare. All the lights and ornaments are gone. The presents too. Only a scrap of ribbon and a smashed red bow remain on the floor.

POV shot

The POV shot is an important one but is often incorrectly formatted in ways that confuse the reader. In a POV shot, the camera is looking through the eyes of a character, which allows the audience to see from that character’s point of view. It is almost always part of a larger sequence of at least three shots: 1) the shot that shows the character looking at something; 2) the POV shot itself which shows what the character is seeing; and 3) a shot which returns to the main action of the scene. A typical sequence looks like this:

EXT. BANKS OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER — MORNING

Huck stares at something moving on the surface of the water.

HUCK’S POV

A cottonmouth snake swims lazily toward him.

BACK TO SCENE

Huck picks up a rock and grins at the deadly reptile.

Also correct:

EXT. BANKS OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER — MORNING

Huck stares at something moving on the surface of the water.

HUCK’S POV — COTTONMOUTH SNAKE

swims lazily toward him.

HUCK
    (Here the word HUCK serves as an alternative to BACK TO SCENE.)

picks up a rock and grins at the deadly reptile.

Another older and rarely used — but entirely correct — formulation for a POV shot is WHAT HE SEES or WHAT HUCK SEES:

EXT. BANKS OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER — MORNING

Huck stares at something moving on the surface of the water.

WHAT HE SEES

A cottonmouth snake swimming lazily toward him.

BACK TO HUCK
    (BACK TO HUCK is another acceptable alternative to BACK TO SCENE.)

He picks up a rock and grins at the deadly reptile.

Here is an example of a common mistake:

HUCK’S POV — COTTONMOUTH SNAKE

swims lazily toward him. He picks up a rock and grins at the deadly reptile.

This is incorrect because Huck can’t appear in his own POV shot. An important rule: Once we cut to a POV shot, we’re looking directly through the character’s eyes and he isn’t going to see himself (except in rare instances when he’s seeing his reflection in a mirror, for example, or his image on a store’s video monitor). Before we can see Huck, we have to cut to some new shot that includes him, most often Back To Scene or Back To Huck.

Another common and confusing mistake:

POV — HUCK

Is this Huck’s POV, meaning that we’re looking through Huck’s eyes? Or is this someone else’s POV looking at Huck? It’s impossible to tell, which is why it’s a mistake.

Sometimes a writer wants to call for a POV shot without revealing yet whose POV it is in order to maintain mystery. Here’s an example of how to set that up:

EXT. DARK PARKING LOT — NIGHT

Rita climbs from her Miata.

MYSTERY POV

Watching FROM BEHIND bushes as she walks alone toward the lake.

Also correct:

WATCHER’S POV

ANONYMOUS POV

SUBJECTIVE CAMERA

Subjective camera is simply another way of indicating that the camera is looking through a character’s eyes.

Specialized types of POV shots include binocular POVs, microscopic POVs, upside-down POVs and POV shots out windows and through sniper scopes. They can be formatted as follows:

BINOCULAR POV

SGT. GRIGGS’ BINOCULAR POV — ENEMY INFANTRYMEN

move along the distant ridge.

MICROSCOPIC POV

The bacterium slowly divides, then divides again.

PETER’S UPSIDE—DOWN POV — DANCE FLOOR

Everyone seems to be dancing on the ceiling.

PAMELA’S POV — THROUGH WINDOW

Rain has begun to fall.

POV SHOT THROUGH SNIPER SCOPE — PRIME MINISTER

The cross hairs hover over the official.

Handheld shot

A handheld shot is one in which the camera is being held by the camera operator to give an added sense of motion, energy or confusion, or to heighten the illusion that we’re seeing through a character’s eyes in a POV shot:

HANDHELD SHOT — MOVING WITH MURPHY

As he runs for his life, breathing hard, sweating like an iced tea on an August day in Georgia.

Also correct:

MOVING WITH MURPHY (HANDHELD)

Subject of shot

Separate from the type of shot is the subject of the shot, meaning the character or object being featured in the shot. The subject is a thing, something concrete and visible. It may be as small as a couple of mice or as enormous as a mountain range:

MICKEY AND MINNIE

HIMALAYAS

It may include descriptors:

CRYING BOY AND HIS SNIFFLING LITTLE SISTER

LAST MAN ON EARTH

But no element of a shot heading should include action. The following are incorrect:

SLEEPY BOY RUBS HIS EYES

NAVY SEALS CREEP UP BEACH

Instead, separate the subject of the shot from the action, like this:

SLEEPY BOY

rubs his eyes.

NAVY SEALS

creep up the beach.

If a shot has more than one subject, separate the multiple subjects with commas, slashes or the conjunction “and”:

TRACKING SHOT — MIKE, SAMMY, SAL AND WANDA

THREE SHOT — HANSEL/GRETEL/WITCH

SERGEANT AND TWO CORPORALS

WIDE SHOT — TEX GRIFFIN, HIS PONY AND STONY RIDGE BEYOND THEM

Not:

WIDE SHOT — TEX GRIFFIN — HIS PONY — STONY RIDGE BEYOND THEM

Time of Day

A shot heading often indicates what time of day a scene is taking place. The most basic designations are Day and Night, and they’re important not only for maintaining a reader’s orientation within the story but also because they have important practical implications for production.

Day indicates that a scene takes place during daylight.

Night indicates that a scene takes place in the dark.

Magic hour is used to describe the very short period at sunset when the light is waning but the sun has not yet set. It’s called magic because it makes for great pictures, but it’s also terribly short and so it isn’t practical to shoot long scenes under these brief conditions.

Sunset, sunrise and dusk are all acceptable designations, but also carry practical limitations for production.

Writers may also indicate a time of day more specifically or colorfully:

DEAD OF NIGHT

HIGH NOON

3 AM

Other time designations help the reader remain oriented within time, especially when a screenplay’s narrative is nonlinear, meaning it doesn’t unfold in strictly chronological order:

INT. BEDROOM — ON SLEEPING CHILD — 15 MINUTES LATER

EXT. SWIMMING POOL — CONTINUOUS ACTION

EXT. INDEPENDENCE HALL — JULY 4, 1776

EXT. WHITE HOUSE — ESTABLISHING — PRESENT DAY

INT. PENTICUFF HOUSE — GARAGE — FIVE MONTHS EARLIER

INT. SUBWAY CAR — SAME TIME

Occasionally, more than one time descriptor is used in a single shot heading. In such cases, the term that actually describes the time of day comes first, followed in parentheses by the additional modifiers:

EXT. MOGADISHU — WEAPONS MARKET — DAY (AUGUST 5, 1995)

INT. CLASSROOM — NIGHT (CONTINUOUS ACTION)

EXT. BMW DEALERSHIP — SUNRISE (BACK TO PRESENT)

The term Continuous Action is used to emphasize that one scene follows the preceding one immediately, without any intervening passage of time:

INT. HALLWAY

Running for her life, Penelope bangs up against the door and twists the knob.

INT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE WAITING ROOM — CONTINUOUS ACTION

Her eyes wild, Penelope stumbles inside, desperate to find a friendly face.

CONTINUOUS ACTION can sometimes be useful to make clear to the reader that no time has passed between shots or scenes, but it is often overused. In the example above, context makes fairly obvious that the action from one shot to the next is continuous. The use of CONTINUOUS ACTION adds little. It simply clutters the page with unnecessary words. A cleaner, crisper style results when CONTINUOUS ACTION is used rarely, and only when added clarity is required.

Various additional descriptors are also lumped into the “time of day” category, even though they have nothing to do with the actual time of day. They include terms describing weather (rain, snow, sleet, etc.), the quality of the film or video stock being used (black and white, 8 mm, home video, new sreel footage, etc.), slow motion, and MOS, an old Hollywood term with an amusing history. MOS indicates a scene filmed without sound. Hollywood folklore holds that this term arose from German directors working in early Hollywood who in their limited English would order a scene shot “mit-out sound,” duly noted on the script as “MOS.”

EXT. DISNEYLAND — NEAR SPLASH MOUNTAIN — DAY (HOME VIDEO)

EXT. DALLAS BOOK DESPOSITORY — ON JFK IN OPEN CONVERTIBLE — DAY (BLACK AND WHITE)

INT. THEATER — ON STAGE — NIGHT (MOS)

The actors go through their motions. Mouths move appropriately. Singers sing. Dancers dance. But we hear nothing of it. Only the disembodied PLINK, PLINK, PLINK of a TOY PIANO coming from who knows where.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK — CHRISTMAS NIGHT (SNOW)

INT. ORIENT EXPRESS — DAY (RAIN)

EXT. CHICAGO WORLD’S FAIR — DAY (NEWSREEL FOOTAGE)

CLOSE ON BULLET (SLOW MOTION)

EXT. RACE TRACK — AIRBORNE STOCK CAR — DAY (SLOW MOTION)

CHILD’S BIRTHDAY PARTY — DAY (1966) (8MM)

Note in the examples above that the term describing the actual time of day comes first, followed by the additional modifier or modifiers in parentheses.

How to arrange the information in a shot heading

As we’ve seen, a shot heading can contain information in up to five distinct categories: 1) interior or exterior; 2) location; 3) type of shot; 4) subject of shot; and 5) time of day. The information should be presented in exactly that order.

1INT. 2FUNHOUSE — 3MED. SHOT — 4MR. WHIPPLE — 5NIGHT

Very long shot headings are possible that contain a relatively large amount of information in each of the five of categories:

1INT. 2FUNHOUSE — COLLAPSING REAR SECTION — HALL OF MIRRORS — 3SLOW TRACKING SHOT — 4MR. WHIPPLE, MRS. WHIPPLE AND YOUNG WINSTEAD WHIPPLE — 5NIGHT (CONTINUOUS ACTION) (BLACK AND WHITE)

But notice that even in this unnaturally long and ungainly shot heading, the information is laid out according to the same simple plan.

Of course many shot headings contain information from only one or a few of the five possible categories. Here, the rule is the same. Simply lay out what you have in the established order:

1INT. 2FUNHOUSE — 5NIGHT

3MED. SHOT — 4MR. WHIPPLE

4WHIPPLE

How to decide what information to include in shot headings

Writers sometimes wonder how much information should be included in shot headings. Many writers include too much information, much of it redundant, making the screenplay cluttered and difficult to read. Other writers fail to provide enough information, which can leave the reader confused. The goal when composing a shot heading should be to provide the necessary information clearly and concisely, including just enough words to do the job but no more. Here are three general guidelines to help you decide how much information is enough, and which will go a great distance toward reducing the length of your shot headings:

  1. At the beginning of a sequence that takes place in a new location or after a passage of time, indicate INT. or EXT. and a description of the location, along with an indication of the time of day:

    INT. WHITE HOUSE — OVAL OFFICE — DAY

    These are often called master shot headings.

  2. If specific shots follow a master shot heading and occur in the same location and within the same time frame, it isn’t necessary to repeat the location and time of day.

    The master shot heading above could be followed by shots like these:

    ANGLE ON PRESIDENT’S DESK

    MED. SHOT — PRESIDENT BARTLETT

    LEO

  3. Shot headings should be as short as possible.

    In general, the readability of a script increases as the word count decreases. That’s why rule #2 above is important. Endlessly repeating something like INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE as part of each of the minor shot headings turns a simple thing like LEO into the jawbreaker INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - LEO - DAY. Not only is this shot heading far more work to read, it obscures the most important element in the shot — Leo. It also breaks up the continuity of the ongoing master scene and suggests that a time cut may have occurred. All of this slows, confuses and potentially irritates the busy reader.

    Information about the type of shot can also frequently be omitted. Rarely is it necessary to indicate FULL SHOT - LEO or MED. SHOT - LEO, rather than simply LEO. When it is necessary to the telling of the story to call a specific type of shot, such as a POV shot or a close shot, by all means do it. But when there is no strongly compelling reason to specify a particular type of shot, don’t. Leave it to the director.

How to decide when to create a new shot heading

Including too many shot headings or too few often creates problems for writers and readers alike. Too many shot headings clutter a screenplay and can make a writer appear amateurish. Too few shot headings leave the reader confused and create headaches when production approaches. In general, insert a new shot heading only when necessary. Three rules of thumb provide guidance here:

  1. Insert a shot heading when there is a change in location or time.

    Let’s say we’re inside the Oval Office (INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY), and then cut outside to the Lincoln Memorial. We would need a new shot heading along these lines: EXT. LINCOLN MEMORIAL - DAY. That’s fairly straightforward.

    Now let’s say we’re in the Oval Office, then we cut to another scene in the same location, but it’s 90 minutes later. We need a new shot heading, something like this: INT. OVAL OFFICE - 90 MINUTES LATER or SAME - 90 MINUTES LATER.

    Writers sometimes get into trouble when a character moves from one location to another. The following is incorrect:

    INT. JOSIAH’S MOTOR HOME — NIGHT

    The old guy pours himself a cup of coffee and steps outside. He climbs painfully to the ground and looks up at the stars.

    We’re missing a shot heading that accounts for Josiah’s movement from an interior location to an exterior one, which may be shot at a completely different time and place. The sequence should be set up like this:

    INT. JOSIAH’S MOTOR HOME — NIGHT

    The old guy pours himself a cup of coffee and steps outside.

    EXT. MOTOR HOME — NIGHT

    He climbs painfully to the ground and looks up at the stars.

  2. Add shot headings when necessary for the visual telling of the story.

    Among the screenwriter’s tasks is creating the visual experience of the screen story in the imagination of the reader. Shot headings are one of the essential tools for accomplishing this task. We have already discussed what many of these shots are: POV shots, close shots, wide shots, tracking shots, up angles, down angles and so forth. If visual attention must be focused very specifically on a small object or detail, an extreme close shot serves precisely that purpose and is appropriate and justified. At other times, say in an ordinary dialogue scene between two characters, it might not be necessary to call attention to any particular visual detail and only the initial master shot heading is required. Add shot headings of the more visually specific sort only when you have a compelling visual reason for doing so.

  3. Add shot headings when logic requires it.

    Sometimes plain logic requires a new shot heading. For example, after the shot heading WILMA’S POV, a new shot heading, such as BACK TO SCENE, is logically required before Wilma can appear again on screen. Similarly, after an EXTREME CLOSEUP ON GNAT’S LITTLE TOE, logic requires a new shot heading before the expanse of the Grand Canyon may appear on screen.

  4. Don’t add a shot heading where there is no new shot.

    Sometimes writers set up as a shot heading what is really just a movement of the camera. The following is incorrect:

    INT. SUBMARINE — GALLEY — NIGHT

    Nason and his guys fight the fire. They know that at this depth, they’re fighting for their lives. But they’re choking on the smoke. And they’re losing the battle.

    PAN TO ENSIGN MENENDEZ

    Leading in a fresh contingent of men to join the fight.

    The pan is really just a camera move within the existing shot and shouldn’t logically be given a new shot heading. Instead, format the sequence like this:

    INT. SUBMARINE — GALLEY — NIGHT

    Nason and his guys fight the fire. They know that at this depth, they’re fighting for their lives. But they’re choking on the smoke. And they’re losing the battle. PAN TO Ensign Menendez, leading in a fresh contingent of men to join the fight.

    Other common camera moves that don’t logically warrant new shot headings include RACK FOCUS TO, TILT or PAN TO REVEAL and ZOOM or TRACK TO.

    An important exception to this rule occurs when we start on a closeup or an extreme closeup and pull back to reveal that we’re in a whole new location. For practical reasons (namely, that production personnel need a new master shot heading to go with the new location), a new shot heading is added.

    Instead of this:

    EXTREME CLOSEUP — WOMAN’S FIST

    opens to show she holds a house key. She inserts it in a doorknob. PULL BACK to reveal Dotty opening the front door of Frank’s house. Dotty lets herself in.

    Do this:

    EXTREME CLOSEUP — WOMAN’S FIST

    opens to show she holds a house key. She inserts it in a doorknob. PULL BACK to reveal:

    EXT. FRANK’S HOUSE

    Dotty opens the front door and lets herself in.

  5. Add shot headings to break up long passages of action and lend a sense of increased tempo.

    The problem: Because of the narrow column that even intermittent dialogue makes down the center of the script page, a screenplay often contains a great deal of white space. Add in the space around shot headings, scene transitions and a few short paragraphs, and a typical script page contains relatively few words, looks spacious and reads fairly breezily. By contrast, action sequences, arguably the fastest-paced sequences written for the screen, can appear in a script like dull blocks of words crowding the page. Ironically, then, when an action sequence obliterates too much of the white space, action can end up reading so slowly that readers are tempted to skim it or even skip it entirely.

    The solution: Break up the action with short shot headings to restore white space and help guide the reader’s eye down the page. Compare the following sequences, the first with only a single master shot heading and the second with additional shot headings inserted to break up the page.

INT. PARKING STRUCTURE — DAY

The immaculate MOTOR HOME ROARS down the ramp into the underground garage, followed by three squad cars. Michael cranks the steering wheel hard to the right and the MOTOR HOME makes a SQUEALING turn. Ahead, a concrete beam hangs low. Too low for the high-profile vehicle. Michael ducks at the moment of IMPACT. The ROOF PEELS OFF the motor home with a METALLIC SHRIEK. The crumpled SHEET METAL BANGS off the hood of a pursuing squad car. One of the cops slings a RIOT GUN out his window and FIRES. The GLASS in Michael’s WINDOW EXPLODES. He makes a desperation left turn down another ramp but cuts the corner too close. A long slab of METAL CURLS AWAY from the side of the motor home like an orange peel. Michael plunges his giant convertible deeper into the garage, his hair blowing in the open air. At the bottom of the ramp, steel pipes crisscross the low ceiling. What’s left of the MOTOR HOME GRINDS against them and debris flies as the big vehicle gets chopped down even shorter. Shreds of insulation, stuffed animals and cooking utensils fill the air. A microwave oven bounces onto the hood of a squad car and SMASHES THROUGH the WINDSHIELD, landing in the empty passenger seat. Michael finds a ramp sloping up toward daylight and heads for freedom, no longer pursued, piloting the decimated chassis of what was once his proud home.

While this might be fun to watch on screen, it looks fairly awful on the page. Here is the same action broken up with intermediate shot headings that correspond roughly to the various smaller pieces of action that make up the whole sequence:

INT. PARKING STRUCTURE — DAY

The immaculate MOTOR HOME ROARS down the ramp into the underground garage, followed by three squad cars.

MICHAEL

cranks the steering wheel hard to the right and:

MOTOR HOME

makes a SQUEALING turn. Ahead, a concrete beam hangs low. Too low for the high-profile vehicle.

MICHAEL

ducks at the moment of IMPACT. The ROOF PEELS OFF the motor home with a METALLIC SHRIEK.

CRUMPLED SHEET METAL

BANGS off the hood of a pursuing squad car. One of the cops slings a RIOT GUN out his window and FIRES.

ON MICHAEL

As the GLASS in his WINDOW EXPLODES. He makes a desperation left turn down another ramp but cuts the corner too close.

LONG SLAB OF METAL

CURLS AWAY from the side of the motor home like an orange peel.

MICHAEL

plunges his giant convertible deeper into the garage, his hair blowing in the open air.

AT BOTTOM OF RAMP

Steel pipes crisscross the low ceiling. What’s left of the MOTOR HOME GRINDS against them and debris flies as the big vehicle gets chopped down even shorter.

BEHIND MOTOR HOME

Shreds of insulation, stuffed animals and cooking utensils fill the air. A microwave oven bounces onto the hood of a squad car and SMASHES through the WINDSHIELD, landing in the empty passenger seat.

MICHAEL

finds a ramp sloping up toward daylight and heads for freedom, no longer pursued, piloting the decimated chassis of what was once his proud home.

The passage now looks like an action sequence and reads like one. This layout also gives production personnel the material they’re going to be shooting in more manageable bites. The downside for the writer battling to keep a script’s page count down is that this style uses about twice as much space as leaving the text in a single block.

An important caution: For all of the reasons noted above, not every page in a screenplay should be sprinkled with so many shot headings. Use this shot heading style sparingly and only when it’s genuinely justified.

What NOT to include in a shot heading

Shot headings should not include any of the following:

  1. Sounds or sound effects.

    Sounds and sound effects belong in direction, not shot headings.

  2. Action.

    A shot heading is like a noun. It is the subject or headline of the shot. The action belongs beneath the shot heading in direction, like this:

    MICHAEL

    grips the steering wheel.

    Not:

    MICHAEL GRIPS STEERING WHEEL

  3. The articles The, A or An.

    Shot headings avoid using articles in order to save space. Instead of writing CLOSE ON THE MAN’S HAND, it is standard to write CLOSE ON MAN’S HAND. Instead of EXT. THE BAKERY, write simply EXT. BAKERY.

    Occasionally, omitting an article causes a shot heading to read awkwardly. In those cases, it is acceptable to include the article.

Formatting specialized sequences

Certain specialized sequences, such as flashbacks, dream sequences, split screens and telephone intercuts, require special treatment.

Flashbacks and dream sequences

A flashback is a scene or series of scenes that takes place prior to the story’s main action. A dream sequence is, naturally, a scene or series of scenes that takes place in a dream. In a flashback, the word “flashback” appears underlined as the very first element in the shot heading, followed by a hyphen:

FLASHBACK — INT. FUNHOUSE — NIGHT

A dream sequence is set up the same way:

DREAM SEQUENCE — INT. FUNHOUSE — NIGHT

Writer John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) suggests a different approach which he uses, and which passes the tests of clarity and economy:

INT. FUNHOUSE — NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

Alternative, more recent terms sometimes used to introduce short flashbacks are memory hit and memory flash:

MEMORY HIT — CORVETTE

careens out of control.

MEMORY FLASH

Melissa’s face the instant before impact.

Imagination sequences can be handled like dream sequences:

IAN’S IMAGINATION — INT. CIRCUS TENT

Ending a flashback or dream sequence

When a flashback or dream sequence ends, you have three choices. You can simply move on to the next scene:

DREAM SEQUENCE — EXT. FERRIS WHEEL — DAY

Josh dangles by his fingertips from the highest car. Melanie sits in the car above him, prying his fingers loose one by one. And suddenly, Josh is falling, falling, falling …

INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM — DAY

Josh jerks his head up off his desk, jolting awake. He looks across the room at Melanie with deep suspicion.

Here, the context makes obvious that the dream has ended and no further formatting cues are required. Other less obvious situations benefit from a more explicit indication that the flashback or dream is over. This is the second method of ending a flashback or dream sequence:

DREAM SEQUENCE — EXT. FERRIS WHEEL — DAY

Josh dangles by his fingertips from the highest car. Melanie sits in the car above him, prying his fingers loose one by one. And suddenly, Josh is falling, falling, falling …

END DREAM SEQUENCE.

INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM — DAY

Melanie looks up from her book and notices that Josh is looking at her sort of cock-eyed, like he’s just woken up. He appears deeply, darkly suspicious.

A flashback can also be handled this same way:

FLASHBACK — EXT. RIVERBANK

Charity stands watching the big riverboat burn, her hands over her mouth. Slowly she collapses in the mud.

EXT. SMALL—TOWN CEMETERY

A half-dozen funerals underway simultaneously. The scope of the tragedy hits home. Charity stands at a fresh grave, grieving her sister alone.

END FLASHBACK.

INT. CHARITY’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

She stares at her image in the mirror.

A third way to indicate that a flashback has ended is to add the words BACK TO PRESENT to the shot heading that immediately follows the flashback:

FLASHBACK — EXT. RIVERBANK

Charity stands watching the big riverboat burn, her hands over her mouth. Slowly she collapses in the mud.

EXT. SMALL—TOWN CEMETERY

A half—dozen funerals underway simultaneously. The scope of the tragedy hits home. Charity stands at a fresh grave, grieving her sister alone.

INT. CHARITY’S BEDROOM — NIGHT (BACK TO PRESENT)

She stares at her image in the mirror.

Note that FLASHBACK is one word and that it appears only once, as does DREAM SEQUENCE, at the beginning of the sequence, even if the sequence consists of multiple scenes.

Montages and series of shots

A montage is a series of brief images, often under music, used to show the passage of time, the unfolding of a character’s plan or the evolution of a character or relationship overtime. A series of shots performs a similar function. Though purists will argue that there is an important difference between the two, that argument is beyond the scope of this guide. From a formatting standpoint, they are twins.

A montage includes the word MONTAGE in the shot heading. A series of shots includes the words SERIES OF SHOTS in the heading.

In either case, the shot heading is followed by a description of the content of the various shots that make up the montage or series of shots. Here is a montage:

AROUND PARIS — MONTAGE

Jim and Angela sit at a café, sipping coffee, tentative with one another.

They walk through the Musee D’Orsay, pausing in front of a Van Gogh, lost in animated conversation. They seem surprised at what they’re discovering in each other.

They climb the endless iron stairs of the Eiffel Tower. She’s getting tired. He offers his hand. She takes it and he pulls her along.

They stand on the Pont Neuf, gazing together at the waters of the Seine flowing beneath them. The sun is setting. Angela looks into Jim’s eyes. She goes up on her toes and gives him a tender first kiss.

Here is a series of shots:

SERIES OF SHOTS

John ransacks the glove compartment of the old Dodge. He comes out with a book of matches.

He searches and finds a newspaper in a pile of trash behind the house.

He rips the paper and crumples it into tight balls.

He stuffs the paper in the dark space beneath the house.

He strikes a match and sets fire to the crumpled paper.

He sits in the Dodge, watching the house burn.

Each paragraph represents a shot within the montage or series of shots. This is the simplest formatting method. An alternative is to assign each shot within the montage or series of shots its own shot heading. The shots are then lettered alphabetically and the individual shot headings and descriptions are indented three spaces from the normal left margin:

AROUND PARIS — MONTAGE

A) EXT. CAFÉ — DAY

     Jim and Angela sit sipping coffee, tentative with one another.

B) INT. MUSEE D’ORSAY — DAY

     They walk through the museum, pausing in front of a Van Gogh, lost in animated conversation. They seem surprised at what they’re discovering in each other.

C) EXT. EIFFEL TOWER — DAY

     They climb the endless iron stairs of the Eiffel Tower. She’s getting tired. He offers his hand. She takes it and he pulls her along.

D) EXT. SEINE RIVER — DUSK

They stand on the Pont Neuf, gazing together at the waters of the Seine flowing beneath them. The sun is setting. Angela looks into Jim’s eyes. She goes up on her toes and gives him a tender first kiss.

Both of these methods make clear what is the content of each individual shot, and which shots are included in the montage or series of shots, and there is no confusion about where the montage or series of shots ends.

Intercut sequences

An intercut sequence is one that cuts alternately between two or more locations, most often to present all parties to a telephone conversation. Each location must be established with its own shot heading, and the instruction INTERCUT must be given. Thereafter, dialogue can flow as if all the characters are present together and (V.O.) is not indicated beside any of the character names over dialogue:

INT. MARYANN’S KITCHEN — MORNING

She dials the phone.

INT. MARK’S OFFICE — SAME TIME

His PHONE begins to RING. He crosses to pick it up.

MARK

Mark Markisian and Associates.

INTERCUT telephone conversation.

MARYANN

Mark? It’s Maryann. How are
you?

MARK

Fantastic. I’m so glad you
called.
The messenger just
brought your cashier’s check.

Here is another way to format the same conversation:

INT. MARYANN’S KITCHEN — MORNING

She dials the phone. INTERCUT WITH:

INT. MARK’S OFFICE — SAME TIME

His PHONE begins to RING. He crosses to pick it up.

MARK

Mark Markisian and Associates.

MARYANN

Mark? It’s Maryann. How are
you?

MARK

Fantastic. I’m so glad you
called.
The messenger just
brought your cashier’s check.

Text messages and instant messages, caller ID and email

These can be played in direction, don’t require special shot headings, and are described in the chapter on “Direction.”

Split screen sequences

A split screen sequence consists of two or more scenes simultaneously sharing the screen, which may be split into left and right halves, or four quadrants, or an entire checkerboard of smaller images. A two-location split screen gets a shot heading like this:

INT. GAS STATION BATHROOM/INT. FIFTH AVENUE LAW OFFICE — SPLIT SCREEN — DAY

Milo, dressed in nothing but his boxers, has his cell phone out and is waving it around the filthy John, trying desperately to get a signal. Back at the office, his entire staff is searching just as desperately for the missing report.

Capitalizing McDonald’s and DeVries in shot headings

When names like McDonald’s and DeVries appear in a shot heading, capitalize like this for greater readability:

INT. MCDONALD’S RESTAURANT — CLOSE ON DeVRIES
    (The c in McDonald’s and the e in DeVries are lower-cased.)

Breaking a page after a shot heading

Never break a page immediately after a shot heading. Always include at least one complete sentence of direction or one line of dialogue before breaking the page:

EXT. MOTOCROSS COURSE — DAY

The BIKES ROAR past.

—-page break —-

A cloud of dust fills the air in their wake.

An exception to this rule occurs when a shot heading stands alone as a scene:

EXT. MCGREGOR MANSION — NIGHT (ESTABLISHING SHOT)

—-page break—-

INT. MCGREGOR MANSION — NIGHT

The party is in progress.

Spacing between shots and scenes

Standard practice allows for either double spacing (one blank line) or triple spacing (two blank lines) before each new shot heading. You can do it like this:

EXT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

Mick and Minn walk in.

INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

They sit down.

Or like this:

EXT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

Mick and Minn walk in.

INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

They sit down.

The first method allows more material to fit on the page. The second method leaves more white space and looks more inviting to the reader.

A third method triple spaces before master scene headings and double spaces before each new shot heading within a master scene:

INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY

They sit down. Mick notices something on the table.

INSERT — TABLETOP

Something scratched into the finish. The letters X, G and Z.

BACK TO SCENE

He frowns. Jots the letters on a napkin.

EXT. COFFEE SHOP

Mick runs for his car.

INT. POLICE PRECINCT

Mick strides in.

A rogues’ gallery of nonstandard shot headings

All of the following shot headings are out of standard format. After each heading, an explanation of the problem is given, along with a corrected version of the shot heading:

EXT. MERCEDES — INTERSTATE 70
    
(Follow the general-to-specific rule: EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - MERCEDES.)

EXT. APARTMENT — SPRING — 1965 — DAWN
    
(You only get one main time-of-day designation, with the others following in parentheses: EXT. APARTMENT - DAWN (SPRING 1965).)

INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT — DETROIT — NIGHT
    
(The city name should be placed inside parentheses: INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT (DETROIT) — NIGHT.)

INT. PLAYBOY MANSION/KITCHEN — DAY
    
(As you move from general to specific, separate the location elements with a hyphen: INT. PLAYBOY MANSION - KITCHEN - DAY.)

EXT. THE FRONT OF THE BAR
    (Omit the articles: EXT.
FRONT OF BAR.)

ANGLE ON BLENDER SPINNING AND SPINNING
    (Remove the action from the shot heading: ANGLE ON BLENDER, with “Spinning and spinning” placed beneath the shot heading in direction.)

MONTAGE
    (Only flashbacks and dream sequences get underlined: MONTAGE.)

CLOSE ON: ASTRONAUT JOHN GLENN
    (Lose the colon: CLOSE ON ASTRONAUT JOHN GLENN.)

Angle on:

Mike lifting the heavy beam off Otto.
    
(Ouch. Do it like this: ANGLE ON MIKE, with “Lifting the heavy beam off Otto” placed beneath the shot heading in direction.)

EXT. LAUNCH PAD — SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOR — CONTINUOUS
    
(Separate the elements with a single hyphen (space hyphen space), not a dash: EXT. LAUNCH PAD - SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOR - CONTINUOUS.)

I./E. MOLLY’S VW — DAY
    
(Spell it out: INT./EXT. MOLLY’S VW - DAY.)

INT. — PHONE BOOTH — MOMENTS LATER
    
(There’s no hyphen after Int. or Ext.: INT. PHONE BOOTH - MOMENTS LATER.)

EXT. PHIL’S APARTMENT — HALLWAY
    
(The hallway is really an interior location which happens to be outside Phil’s apartment: INT. HALLWAY - OUTSIDE PHIL’S APARTMENT.)

A LONG STRETCH OF DESERT HIGHWAY — ARIZONA DESERT — NOON
    
(Lose the article “A” and put the location in order from general to specific: EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - LONG STRETCH OF DESERT HIGHWAY - NOON.)

INT. — MED. SHOT — BECKMAN — DAY
    
(An INT. or EXT. designation requires a location: INT. RESTAURANT - MED. SHOT - BECKMAN - DAY.)

A LOUD BANG
    
(Sounds don’t belong in shot headings. You can’t photograph a loud bang. What do we see?)

EXT. DOWNTOWN CHICAGO — A HOT JULY AFTERNOON — MUSIC OVER
    
(Lose the article “A” and drop the “MUSIC OVER” down into direction beneath the shot heading: EXT. DOWNTOWN CHICAGO - HOT JULY AFTERNOON.)

CLOSE — ON YOUNG ENGLISH BOY
    (Don’t put a hyphen between CLOSE and ON: CLOSE ON YOUNG ENGLISH BOY.)

INT. BASEMENT, VICTOR’S PLACE
    
(The location always reads from general to specific and its parts are separated by hyphens: INT. VICTOR’S PLACE - BASEMENT.)

MED. SHOT
    
(Of what? MED. SHOT - BRONCO BILLY.)

INT. EXTREME WIDE ANGLE — LIVING ROOM — DAY
(Follow the established order of shot heading elements: INT. LIVING ROOM - EXTREME WIDE ANGLE - DAY.)

REVERSE ANGLE — EXT. COW PASTURE
    
(Again, follow the established order: EXT. COW PASTURE - REVERSE ANGLE.)

FAQs about shot headings

Does it worry you or your wife, I mean on a personal level, that you’ve written nearly 40 pages about shot headings?

It worries me a great deal. But my wife was worried long before.

What is master scene format? Is that the correct format for a spec script?

Master scene format refers to a screenwriting style that employs a minimum of shot headings, just one per scene, which indicate only the location of the scene and the time of day, something like INT. FLINTSTONE HOUSE - NIGHT or EXT. ROSE PARADE - DAY. Strictly speaking, a script written entirely in master scene format would never include slug lines for individual shots. Those individual shots or images might be implied by the way direction is written, but they’d never be called out in shot headings. Some say that a spec script should be written this way. It’s not terrible advice, but it isn’t quite right. Yes, a script, whether written on spec or progressing through production, should be formatted with as few shot headings as possible. And yes, too many individual shots can bog down a script. But there are times that shot headings other than masters should be used. And screenwriters need not write with a hand tied unnecessarily behind their backs.

I’m a writer-director, and I know exactly how I’m going to shoot each scene. Can’t I write in all my shots so readers can visualize my movie the way I see it? I want to prove that I’m the perfect person to direct my film.

If you add all those shot headings, you’ll make your script unreadable. All you’ll prove is that you don’t know how to write a professional screenplay.

You’ve listed pages and pages of different kinds of shots. I feel totally intimidated. I’m not a cinematographer. Am I supposed to be using all these different kinds of shots (medium shot, two shot, tracking shot)?

No. I’m sure I’ve never used a medium shot in my life. You want as spare a screenwriting style as you can manage, which might mean writing an entire screenplay without a CUT TO: or POV shot. But there are times a writer working in the increasingly visual media of film and television needs to communicate a particular shot with great specificity because that shot, one the writer sees as clearly as he sees his most intimately drawn character, serves to tell his story as surely as do dialogue and direction. For that reason, this guide includes instructions on how to use those shots in a clear, professional manner. But don’t misunderstand. They don’t all have to be used in every script. On the contrary. Use them only when they’re essential to the telling of your story.