Formatting Fade to Black

Transitions are typically right-justified. My gut says DISSOLVE is used when mixing between two images. If you're dissolving to black, you may as well just use FADE OUT.

Edit;

Oops. Think you edited your post as I posted mine. The power of psychic thought. Anyway, should still be right-justified.

From what I have studied in today's screenplays you want to minimize the use of transition words such as FADE TO... except where you want to show a very long passage of time.

Seems to me the next scene heading covers it just fine:

INT. BEDROOM - THE NEXT MORNING

or

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING

or simply

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

The FADE TO BLACK just takes up page space. It's gonna be up to the director or editor anyway.

Best, Kevin

I'd lose the fade in and come up on a her bedroom slug line again. No biggee though.

but please dont start the screenplay w/ an alarm clock going off.

it's been done to death.

yeah, the alarm clock thing is a classic newbie move. A lot of first time writers do it. One of the theories that I heard about the alarm opener is that it's synonomus with waking from a deep sleep. We come suddenly become aware of the world around us, just as we would in a movie theater.


But Transition Ins are on the left, Transistion Outs are on the right. However, you really don't need the T-O, you can just use a new slug line. Let the Editor and the Director worry about how the transition is handled.