Master Scene Screenwriting Guide

by Ken Briscoe

1. Scene Heading

Element name
Final Draft, Fade In: Scene Heading
WriterSolo and WriterDuet: Scene

Master scenes

A master scene screenplay's basic unit of dramatic action is a scene.

A master scene is made up of a Scene Heading followed by Action (aka Scene Direction) and may include Dialogue.

Scene Heading

Each scene begins with a Scene Heading (sometimes referred to as a slug line).

A scene takes place in a single location and occurs in continuous time.

If there's a change in location or a break in time, a new Scene Heading should be added to indicate the change.

NOTE: Do NOT include scene numbers in master scene scripts.

Heading parts

The parts of the Scene Heading should appear in the following order:

Required:

1. Camera location

2. Scene location

3. Time of day

Optional:

4. Special notation

Scene Heading with the 3 required parts

In the following example, the Scene Heading uses the 3 required parts:

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - DAY

The Camera location ends with a period.

The Scene location is separated from the Camera location by a space.

The Time of day is separated from the Location by a dash (space-dash-space).

Scene Heading with the optional 4th part

This example uses all 4 parts:

EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT (RAIN)

The Special notation is separated from the Time of day part by a space and placed in parentheses.

Part details

1. Camera location

This part is required. It tells us whether the scene will occur indoors or outdoors.

Use...	...to indicate...
INT.	interior
EXT.	exterior
INT/EXT.	If the camera will move from interior to exterior
EXT/INT.	If the camera will move from exterior to interior

INT/EXT. can also be used if the scene has the camera set up in an interior but some or all of the scene action will occur in the exterior. For example, a through-the-window shot of street action.

EXT/INT. for the reverse -- a shot from outside through a window or open door.

Don't write INT./EXT. or EXT./INT. because the dot after the first camera location may cause the scriptwriting software to read the camera location incorrectly.

2. Location

This part is required. It tells us the name of the location for the scene.

Always use the same name for a location.

In some cases, you may have 2 parts to your location. For example, it could be a primary location but a specific place within that location. The two parts can be separated by a dash or a comma. For example, the following scene is set in the STEERAGE of a SHIP:

INT. SHIP - STEERAGE - NIGHT

3. Time of day

This part is required. It tells us the time of day of the scene.

Unless there's a special lighting consideration, use DAY or NIGHT.

If it's a specific time of day, you need to convey that in the scene's description or through dialogue.

For times that are absolute:

Use...	...to indicate...
DAY NIGHT	Day time or night time. These are the most commonly used.
SUNRISE DAWN SUNSET DUSK TWILIGHT	The lighting conditions particular to these times. DAWN is the first light in the sky just before SUNRISE. DUSK is the last light in the sky following SUNSET. TWILIGHT is the lighting condition between DAWN and SUNRISE (morning twilight) or between SUNSET and DUSK (evening twilight)
UNKNOWN	For a scene set in a location where the time of day would not be known. This is a suggestion. I'm not aware of a standard term for this.

For times that are relative to the preceding scene:

Use...	...to indicate...
LATER MOMENTS LATER A FEW MINUTES LATER etc.	The scene is in the same location but some time has passed.
CONTINUOUS	If there is no break in time between the previous scene and the new one, you can use CONTINUOUS. We assume that things are moving forward continuously unless something in the action or dialogue indicates otherwise so only use CONTINUOUS if necessary for clarity.
SAME SIMULTANEOUS	Only use SAME if the scene takes place in the same timeframe as the previous scene, meaning they both start at the same point in time in the narrative. Since this is only an indication for the reader, you will need to include something in the scene that would make this clear to the viewer.

Avoid using MORNING, AFTERNOON, EVENING.

If the lighting needs to convey that it's very early, use DAWN or SUNRISE. Otherwise, use DAY then convey that it's morning through the action.

The same applies to evening -- use DUSK or SUNSET for lighting, otherwise use NIGHT.

For afternoon, use DAY and convey the time through the action.

4. Special notation (optional)

This part of the scene heading is optional. It can be used to indicate a specific condition, year, particular spot in the location, effect, etc. Only use the Special notation part if necessary.

Place it in parentheses, e.g. (RAIN)

You may see this part separated by a dash but I recommend enclosing it in parentheses because: 1) it's visually clearer, and 2) scriptwriting software may assume that the last part of the heading that is offset by a dash is the Time of day.

Scene heading: Formatting

Separate the Location from the Camera location by one space.

Separate the Time of day from the Location with a dash (space-dash-space).

Separate the Special notation from the Time of day by one space and enclose it in parentheses.

Do not bold or underline the scene headings. You may see script examples using bold and/or underline but it is not a standard. Some TV shows use it -- but not all. Multi-camera sitcoms have a number of formatting differences; see the "Multi-Camera Sitcoms" page for more details.

Examples

#1 - Required (3 required parts)

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - DAY

#2 - All 4 parts

EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT (RAIN)

#3 - Relative time

This indicates that the scene is continuous from the previous scene (i.e. no break in time).

EXT. ALLEYWAY - CONTINUOUS

#4 - Secondary location

EXT. AMAZON JUNGLE - CAMP SITE - DAY

Secondary scene headings

A secondary scene heading can be used within a master scene if the new location is an adjoining space and the change of location occurs in continuous time. This abbreviated heading can be used instead of creating a whole new scene heading.

Secondary scene headings should NOT be used if there's a break in time or a change of primary location. This would require a new scene heading.

Example

Within the master scene location, if your character(s) will be moving between adjoining spaces, you could do the following:

INT. EMILY'S APARTMENT - HALLWAY - DAY