The "Short Shot"

[origin68]

Hello to all!

I have a question regarding screenwriting format and the "short shot" or a sequence of short shots. I want to discover the proper way to illustrate this without using a bunch of camera language. Is it okay to use entries like "A SEQEUNCE OF SHOTS, A SEQUENCE, SHORT-SHOT, CUT TO", etc?

Background: My main character is thinking about a case he's on - and you are reading/seeing his thoughts as the way he thinks the action has happened; the murder, etc. I am trying to find the proper and effective way of illustrating this within the format.

Thanks for the help!

John.

 

[Egon]

your question

i don't know about the format, but with the imagery i picture the initial shot of the man pondering (ex: close - up in office chair) shrinking into a centered image, leaving black space in which the things he thinks and describes in the voice over are illustrated in windows shaped like puzzle pieces that connect in a clockwise sequence around the centered initial image. To not make it too busy, one of these sections should probably be a still, most likely the puzzle windows (except maybe one or two that serve to give the audience some clues or note characters of significance). The centered image can move your (detective) character around, through his day or week, so you can pass some time if you need to move him elsewhere, and so the audience can study what this (man) does while he's meditating.

hope helpful.

 

[film8ker]

Use MONTOGE: __ with a series of shot descriptions separated by commas. Do NOT use camera direction of CU, Close Up, Dolly or anything else. This will just piss off a producer who knows what s/he is doing. I’m a developmental producer and I see amateur writers with camera directions in them all the time and it is very unprofessional and distracts the reader. Read the Screenwriter’s Bible for other handy formatting information.