Chapter 11 - Shots
The Rules:
Shots are formatted like Scene Headings, flush left margin, all
uppercase. Blank line before and after.
A SHOT tells the reader the focal point within a scene has changed. Here
are some examples of shots:
• ANGLE ON --
• EXTREME CLOSE UP --
• PAN TO --
• FRANKIE'S POV --
• REVERSE ANGLE --
Writing Tip:
As the writer, for reasons already mentioned you should be very judicious
using a SHOT to redirect the reader's focus. Your "directing" runs
the risk of interrupting the flow of your storytelling. If what you really want
to do is direct films, do yourself a favor and DON'T do it in a script you're
trying to sell... wait until it sells and try to negotiate a package deal with
you on board as the director. This most often is a possibility after you've
already had one of your screenplays filmed.
Once in a while, calling a shot is necessary. You want the reader to see
something not obvious in the scene or you want to achieve a particular emotion
or build to a climax. This device allows you to achieve this goal.
If you are describing a prison riot, with a prisoner holding a guard at
knifepoint, and you want the audience to see a sharpshooter aiming at the prisoner,
you might use a shot like this:
A PRISONER shoves a homemade shiv against the throat of a PRISON GUARD.
PRISONER
(trembling)
I'll kill
him! I mean it.
PRISON GUARD
Take him
out! Now! Do it!
ANGLE ON - A PRISON GUARD SHARP-SHOOTER
as he lines up the shot, finger poised on the trigger.
PRISONER
I want to talk to the
Warden. NOW!
Another shot used from time to time is INSERT. INSERT is used solely as a
direction - to focus on something integral to the scene, often something that
the audience needs to read or what would otherwise be too small to be clearly
seen in a full, wide scene.
INSERT - RANSOM NOTE
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