An excerpt from my script review for Brightburn which will be available 05/27/19:
5.) Format
MINI SLUGLINES
Every now and then we have writers asking about quick and efficient ways to switch what the reader is visualizing without creating a ton of scenes.
Is there a need to make each and every change of view a new scene heading?
To me, that’s a big “NO” because it bumps up the page count and over complicates the description.
This script did a very good job of utilizing “mini slugs”, most of the time when a character would walk from inside to outside, or vice versa, and eliminated the need for redundant information.
Page 12:
She opens the back screen door and goes –
OUTSIDE THE FARMHOUSE
A jagged breeze. Wind chimes trill. Tori stands on a
wraparound porch.
That’s a simple and understandable way to get a character outside without the need for…
“EXT. FARMHOUSE – NIGHT” When we just started the previous scene a page earlier.
Same page:
Tori heads toward the source of the noise.
She enters –
THE BARN
Almost pitch black. Scary as hell. Tori trying to find
Benjamin in the shadows. The ringing noise beckoning him.
The writers are building tension with Tori, and the importance of using this technique is that tension continues to build uninterrupted as our mind’s eye sees a change of scene without the need to call it out directly.
Very good, and something to study if you are trying to do something similar with your own writing.
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