Shooting script question about series of shots/montage

[cameronchapman]

I know in a spec script, if you have a series of shots or montage, you can just write it as "SERIES OF SHOTS" (or "MONTAGE") with each shot numbered. But in a shooting script, how should this be shown? Should each shot be done with a scene heading instead, for budgeting/scheduling purposes? I'm guessing that's the way it should be done if the shots are in different locations and/or at different times but not necessarily if they're all happening in the same location/at the same time. I just don't want to make things harder on myself when I get to the point of breaking down my script (at the moment it's still in draft form, but figured I could fix this in my next round of revisions if I need to do something different). Thanks!

 

[cameronchapman]

Did some more research, and found my answer. Here it is in case anyone else is wondering the same thing: http://johnaugust.com/2004/formatting-a-montage-sequence

 

[FantasySciFi]

I know in a spec script, if you have a series of shots or montage, you can just write it as "SERIES OF SHOTS" (or "MONTAGE") with each shot numbered. But in a shooting script, how should this be shown?

It's not terribly different except for the labelling in a shooting script. In a spec script, you handle the montage or series in different ways depending on whether there is dialogue attached or not. But for the sake of argument, let's assume it's a simple series of shots.

INT.  MACY'S LIKE DEPT. STORE - DAY

SERIES OF IMAGES - WOMEN'S DRESSING AREA
      A.  Girl walks in with an armful of dresses.
      B.  Her boyfriend sits on chair.
      C.  Girl tries on more dresses.
      D.  Boyfriend slumps in chair.
      E.  Giggling girl in mirror while spinning
      F.  Boyfriend assumes leg-over-chair-arm position.
      G.  Girl coming out of dressing room
      H.  Boyfriend is on the floor head  propped on chair cushion asleep.

                                                                        END OF SERIES:

In the shooting script, the scene are numbered so it would look like:

14     INT.  MACY'S LIKE DEPT. STORE - DAY                                14

         SERIES OF IMAGES - WOMEN'S DRESSING AREA
14A      A.  Girl walks in with an armful of dresses.                     14A

14B      B.  Her boyfriend sits on chair.                                       14B

14C      C.  Girl tries on more dresses.                                        14C

14D      D.  Boyfriend slumps in chair.                                         14D

14E      E.  Giggling girl in mirror while spinning                          14E

14F      F.  Boyfriend assumes leg-over-chair-arm position.        14F

14G      G.  Girl coming out of dressing room                              14G

14H      H.  Boyfriend is on the floor head  propped on              14H
                 chair cushion asleep.

                                                            END OF SERIES:

(they should line up on the right but the coding segment is flaky in how it displays)

Often there is spacing for shot notations. However, that tends to depend on the studio's preferences. The actual shooting locations are usually not noted in the shooting script explicitly. If you are using CeltX, it can help you generate budget and project management information. Numbering helps for tracking shot footage. Uniform sluglines help to track locations. A production asst will usually create a chart that pulls all the same locations together so they can be shot on the same day to minimize rental costs.

Should each shot be done with a scene heading instead, for budgeting/scheduling purposes? I'm guessing that's the way it should be done if the shots are in different locations and/or at different times but not necessarily if they're all happening in the same location/at the same time. I just don't want to make things harder on myself when I get to the point of breaking down my script (at the moment it's still in draft form, but figured I could fix this in my next round of revisions if I need to do something different). Thanks!

One scene (usually 2-4 minutes of screen time, or 2-4 pages) can take up to two hours to film if there are lots of camera angles. I didn't really believe that until I was on a recent shoot. This is particular important for exterior shots where the angle of shadows thrown by the sun can change radically.

CeltX has some nice features to help in that regard. The older version of CeltX seemed to have more bells and whistles than the more recently released version. But both can help you track shots, actors speaking in the scenes and create a character sheet.