dpaterso said:
Your example is odd because you only give us 2 sluglines, DAY and NIGHT.
If you mean something like:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Jack and Jill bake a cake.
INT. TOILET
Jill flushes the toilet.
INT. CELLAR
Timmy bangs his head against the wall.
INT. GYM
Billy does pushups.
EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT
Jack and Jill put on ski masks and check their guns.
...then sure, I'm gonna assume all the slugline-less scenes take place during the DAY, since DAY was the last time of day specified. I've seen time of day omitted like this in several pro scripts I've read.
But, you'll appreciate that once the script goes into production, DAY or NIGHT will be inserted as needed. Why? Extreme example, what if you removed Pages 87-88 from your master script and gave them to your second unit director so he can go film some street scenes while you do the character close ups in the studio. Hours later 2UD returns with his sweating crew and happily says, "It's in the can!" You reply, "But these scenes take place at night! It's still daytime!" 2UD points out that there are no time of day flags in the sluglines. Checking your script, you discover that NIGHT last appeared on Page 86. 2UD, whom you discover is a violent psychopath recently released from prison after serving 30 years hard time for unspeakable crimes, draws his Bowie knife and snarls, "I wish I could get my hands on that lazy damn screenwriter!"
-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus
Hahah ok good point. So i should just always put it in because eventually itll be there later? And I guess my montage example wasnt that great... I guess my major question is do i need to reslug for everything? In my script the montage starts right after FADE IN, so im just a little confused. It happens in a bunch of different locations that the audience is seeing for the first time, along with characters they are just meeting. Do i have to slug for each location and describe the local? Its going to make the montage a lot longer page wise than it will be time wise..
FADE IN:
MONTAGE:
JACK, 32 and balding, runs around the track
JILL, 49, a parapalgeic with a warn smile, cooks a pie in the kitchen
TIM, 101, with a large afro, does jumping jacks by the water fountain.
END MONTAGE
Now doing that, we sort of know the characters but not the local at all, since this is the very first part of the script. So should it be
FADE IN:
MONTAGE:
EXT. TRACk - DAY
A mile long running track with basketball and tenis courts in the background. Groups of RUNNERS and SPRINTERS are spread about.
JACK, 32 and balding, struggles half way down the track.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
A small kitchen right out of a 1950's sitcom.
JILL, 49, a parapalgeic with a warn smile, is hunched over a mixing bowl.
EXT. BASKETBALL COURT - DAY
The game is over, and the five young PLAYERS, one with basketball in hand, look with amazment as TIM, 101, with a large afro, does jumping jacks by the water fountain.
I dunno, i suppose the second way must be the right way of doing it, especially because its the very first part of the script, but i thought wheni read other scripts montages didnt have slugs?
