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Scene location - near one's house - how to write them?

I

Inarius

I need to write a scene which happens near one's house. Should I write:

EXT. NEAR MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

or

EXT. A STREET NEAR MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

or

EXT. ENTRANCE TO MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

or what?

P.S. I know that the 3rd option sound good, but the characters on the scene are NOT standing near the entrance - they walk TOWARDS the entrance, and only at the end of the scene they get there.
 
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As far as I know, scene locations MUST be specific, focusing on a certain place. EXT. HOUSE doesn't sound specific, especially when the house is multi-storied building, and therefore covers a large area.
 
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okay so specifically where are they ? all you said was "a scene which happens near one's house", in which case EXT. HOUSE is as specific as it gets. They're standing in the middle of the road? driveway? yard?
 
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Inarius said:
As far as I know, scene locations MUST be specific, focusing on a certain place. EXT. HOUSE doesn't sound specific, especially when the house is multi-storied building, and therefore covers a large area.
Click to expand...

You are correct. Just "House" would be incorrect especially if you had other scenes happening at other people's houses later on. That would be like having a character named "MAN".

I have a house location in my script. I named it:

EXT. RYAN PALMER'S HOUSE - DAY

...You don't have to be area-explicit in the slug if things are happening outside. You can be more specific in the action block. If some action happens outside and also on the inside (or they are traveling into the house) then you can do this:

I/E. RYAN PALMER'S HOUSE - DAY

Specific rooms:

INT. RYAN PALMER'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY

-Birdman
 
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They don't stand, they walk by the road/avenue/alley/driveway... whatever, I don't care. So they walk and talk, until they get to the entrance of the house. I can't say:

EXT. ENTRANCE TO MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

because they only get there at the end of the scene.
 
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Inarius said:
They don't stand, they walk by the road/avenue/alley/driveway... whatever, I don't care. So they walk and talk, until they get to the entrance of the house. I can't say:

EXT. ENTRANCE TO MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT

because they only get there at the end of the scene.
Click to expand...

Code: 
EXT. FOURTH STREET - DAY

Joe and Bob walking down the street.  They pass several houses as
they banter.  Turning into a nearby house.


EXT. JOE’S HOUSE - DAY

Joe and Bob walking to the front porch.

                         JOE
            Snoop is a stupid name for a dog.

                         BOB
            Fuck you!

Bob puts down Joe with a Haymaker.  Joe reciprocates with a
MMA style wheel kick.  They fall through the front door.


I/E. JOE’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Joe clubs Bob with a lamp.  Blood spews from Bob’s head.
Bob's rappatron device pops out of his throat.


-Birdman
 
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Birdman said:
Code: 
EXT. FOURTH STREET - DAY

Joe and Bob walking down the street.  They pass several houses as
they banter.  Turning into a nearby house.


EXT. JOE’S HOUSE - DAY

Joe and Bob walking to the front porch.

                         JOE
            Snoop is a stupid name for a dog.

                         BOB
            Fuck you!

Bob puts down Joe with a Haymaker.  Joe reciprocates with a
MMA style wheel kick.  They fall through the front door.


I/E. JOE’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Joe clubs Bob with a lamp.  Blood spews from Bob’s head.
Bob's rappatron device pops out of his throat.


-Birdman
Click to expand...

Birdman, I'd like to option your screenplay.
 
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You CAN be very general if it's understood which house it is, for instance if the characters were just inside a specific house, then they go outside to the porch, you can just write EXT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS


But since it looks like your characters are walking toward the house and it's a long scene I would just write

EXT. CITY STREETS - NIGHT

and then a new scene heading (or just explain in the action) when they get outside the house.
 
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Inarius said:
I need to write a scene which happens near one's house. Should I write:
EXT. NEAR MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
or
EXT. A STREET NEAR MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
or
EXT. ENTRANCE TO MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
or what?

P.S. I know that the 3rd option sound good, but the characters on the scene are NOT standing near the entrance - they walk TOWARDS the entrance, and only at the end of the scene they get there.
Click to expand...
While the 'art' side is about story, the 'craft' side is about 'production'. I know this sounds obvious, but as a producer, I need to use the sluglines to identify locations for shoots. From the writing standpoint, then, I need to re-use location sluglines consistently. They should be succinct and descriptive.

EXT. SIDEWALK ALONG MAX'S STREET - NIGHT
... dialogue & action
EXT. DRIVEWAY, MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
... dialogue & action
EXT. FRONT DOOR, MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
... dialogue & action
INT. MAX'S HOUSE - NIGHT (CONTINUOUS)
... dialogue & action
ENTRYWAY:
... dialogue & action
LIVINGROOM:
... dialogue & action
INT. MAX'S HOUSE, KITCHEN - NIGHT
... dialogue & action

The only caution is that INT./EXT. (or I/E.) is often restricted to situations where the action happens on the other side of a barrier, such as in a car or viewed out a window. If the action starts on the outside (EXT) or inside (INT), that's what the slugline starts with.
 
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Another question. If someone drives a car without roof, drives really crazy, and gets busted by cops and etc... How should I write this? INT/EXT or just EXT? Or just INT? And is it "inside the car" or "on the road"?
 
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Inarius said:
Another question. If someone drives a car without roof, drives really crazy, and gets busted by cops and etc... How should I write this? INT/EXT or just EXT? Or just INT? And is it "inside the car" or "on the road"?
Click to expand...

Interior/Exterior has different rules depending on what resource you find. I find this industry to be extremely frustrating in that there seems to me no clear guideline for how to properly use MANY screenplay formatting processes. This is what I do for "I/E.":

(1). It doesn't matter if you car is a convertible or a hardtop.

(2). I use INT. When it's a conversation between characters inside a car.

(3). The moment a character points at a cow and says "Hey, look! A cow"! Then it becomes I/E. Anytime in my script there is references to action happening outside the vehicle, the slug gets an I/E.

EXAMPLES:

A non-moving car with just a conversation happening inside:

INT. BOB'S CAR -DAY

A non-moving car where someone outside is talking to the driver:

I/E. BOB'S CAR - DAY

A moving vehicle with just a conversation.

INT. BOB'S CAR - DAY - TRAVELING

A moving car where shit is happening outside as well (I.e., someone shooting at the driver).

I/E. BOB'S CAR - DAY - TRAVELING

Hope this helps

-Birdman
 
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Inarius said:
Another question. If someone drives a car without roof, drives really crazy, and gets busted by cops and etc... How should I write this? INT/EXT or just EXT? Or just INT? And is it "inside the car" or "on the road"?
Click to expand...

If the view starts from the street, EXT. If it's from a conversation inside the car, INT. From a production standpoint, the view (INT, EXT) helps determine where the camera is located to capture the scene. If you think about it from that perspective, it makes more sense. The camera is capturing the principal action.
Code: 
INT. MAX'S CAR - NIGHT

Max's car careens through the streets.

                    DOUG
        Are you crazy?!

Sirens sound.  Max looks back in his rear view mirror.

Max slows the car and pulls over.

The cop exits and walks to the driver side.

Max looks up at the officer with a shit-ass grin.

                      MAX
          Guess I was going a bit fast.

The officer is not smiling.

                      OFFICER
           I need your license and registration.

EXT.  FIFTH STREET - NIGHT

The officer walks away from Max's car back to his squad car.

Doug, sweating bricks, turns to Max.

                      DOUG
            Damn it!  What if he looks in the trunk?

                      MAX
           Just be cool.

The officer is on the radio and puts down the receiver.  He
steps out of the patrol car and nears Max's car.
...
Okay, I'm going to say something that should be a relief but it will probably upset some. If the situation is ambiguous (a doorway, convertible, etc.), you could use either without issue. The reality is that a director would likely ignore your recommendation anyway when doing the shoot. INT. and EXT. are carryovers from literally being outside and indoor shoots. They are production tools. Using "I./E." or "INT/EXT" indiscriminately are much more characteristic of new writers and would draw the negative attention of a reader. Unless there is a transparent barrier, it's most often NOT the right choice. Put the location (camera) where there is the focus of attention.
 
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FantasySciFi said:
Using "I./E." or "INT/EXT" indiscriminately are much more characteristic of new writers and would draw the negative attention of a reader. Unless there is a transparent barrier, it's most often NOT the right choice. Put the location (camera) where there is the focus of attention.
Click to expand...

I highlighted two connected points that you (and many others) have made.

Behold! .....................The NOOB WRITER!

Nothing says "noob" more than (fill in the blank) with their screenplay.

I can instantly spot a "noob" when I see (fill in the blank) used in parentheticals.

Writing (fill in the blank) lets me instantly know I'm dealing with a "noob".



I'm sorry, folks, but this has got to be the most pathetically maintained industry I have ever "forced" myself to be a part of. There is a tiny skeletal fragment of "universal thinking" within the scriptwriting format world. Inariu's question about "I/E." is a perfect example.

I can post several "reputable" links where one person says to write it as "INT/EXT" whereas another says it should be "I/E.". Some sources say to use a slash "/" in your slugline path. Others say to use a dash "-". Sweetie has posted that he uses a period between the items.

So the question is, if a producer receives a script using any of the above-mentioned styles ...which one represents the NOOB?

...............................I'm not done yet!

Let's talk "Title Page"! I recently submitted my scrip to be reviewed by a script analysis firm. I included my mailing address on the Title Page. I notice on their website that they say to ONLY include the following information:

=========================================

Script title
Author name
Contact details (email and/or cell, not postal address)
Agent or manager contact details (if you have one)

Examples of the things non-pro screenwriters include on title pages that they shouldn’t:
Graphics Dates
(c) / Copyright notices
Loglines
Genre notice
Postal addresses
Version numbers

=========================================


Yep! There it is! I'm officially a NOOB because I chose to put my address on my Title Page. But wait! What do the people at Final Draft have to say about it? After all, they designed the fucking software that ALL OF THE PROS USE to make their fucking screenplays, right?


=========================================

Double space, then switching to lower-case letters, type the word by, double
space again and type your name, with only the first letters capitalized. In the
lower right corner, flush right, type your contact information, including postal
address, phone number and email address. It's not needed, but if you've
registered with the Writers Guild, that information can go in the lower left corner

=========================================

So the people who make the PROFESSIONAL software feel differently than the PROFESSIONAL people who review the scripts the PROFESSIONAL software produces? ....What a fucked up industry!

I could go on and on and on with countless more contradictory formatting examples of "how the pros do it" so that we all don't look like "noobs" only to find some OTHER pro saying the exact opposite.

I love the people who post "Go read a bunch of online movie scripts to see how the pro's really do things"

I HAVE!!

Just about every fucking one of them break every "supposed" noob rule rule in the book. If I see one more "We see" in the action scripts of these online "success stories" I think I'd puke! We're told this is a major Nooblypoo No-No ...but script after script is packed with it (right along with "He is" or "They are" passive tense crap).

Bottom Line: This industry is completely full of shit.

-Birdman
 
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All of this part of the story is one event. It's not even a sequence, because the people involved in this, DO NOT change time period or location. There're in the car. All the time. So I can't first say "INT" and then "INT/EXT".

There're in the car. Max is driving fast to impress a girl and to show off. He gets busted. A cop asks Max for a driving license. Max doesn't even have a license, 'cuz he's poor and never had a car. The cops take him to the police car. Here the scene ends.

So, what will be the best installment, INT or EXT? I don't know how would it seem the INT/EXT thing, but personally, I don't really like it. It's like if you say, that a person is DEAD/ALIVE or GUILTY/INNOCENT. So, what if I write INT, because the scene begins inside the car?

Birdman, I don't understand why are you surprised? It's not a secret that the industry doesn't want you to be a screenwriter - you have to break through. You know, when I finished the Israeli army, many colleges and official organizations offered me to study things like: Programming, Technician, Economy, Electricity, Management, Marketing, CNC, Sociology, Criminology, Phylosophy, Psychology, Medicine... But nobody... ever... asked me if I want to study Screenwriting/Directing/Producing or even Computer Game Development. Why? Simple. Nobody wants you to be there. It's a jewel, it's something for the minority. Unlike the things mentioned above, you need to fight for it.

Currently, I study Computer Game Development. First of all, it's far from my small town: 2-2.5 hours by car, so it costs me much just to get there. Secondly, the people who study there are all from rich families, and most of them live nearby that college. Thirdly, there are not many places in Israel to study that, only in 3 biggest cities. The same situation was when I studied Screenwriting courses. Those two industries DO NOT welcome "average" people (middle class).
 
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Inarius,

It has nothing to do with social status, being a club member or it being a "secret industry" exclusively catering to certain individuals...



It's just fucked up.


-Birdman
 
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Inarius said:
All of this part of the story is one event. It's not even a sequence, because the people involved in this, DO NOT change time period or location. There're in the car. All the time. So I can't first say "INT" and then "INT/EXT".

There're in the car. Max is driving fast to impress a girl and to show off. He gets busted. A cop asks Max for a driving license. Max doesn't even have a license, 'cuz he's poor and never had a car. The cops take him to the police car. Here the scene ends.
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you have at least two (continuous) scenes in this sequence.

INT. INSIDE CAR
Max drives like a crazy person.
Realises he's being pulled by a cop, slows down, winds down the window, speaks to the cop

EXT. OUTSIDE THE CAR
The cop leads Max to the police car.

There could possibly be an INT/EXT scene in the middle, where Max is inside the car talking to the cop through the open window, but that might be too fiddly to bother with.
 
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