SCENE HEADINGS
SCENE HEADINGS INDICATE THE WHERE AND WHEN.
Line producers, unit production managers, and assistant directors need scene headings in order
to do their jobs. Plain and simple, the scene heading or slugline helps them to budget and schedule
the filming of the scenes in your screenplay. Here is a sample of a scene heading from Blood Ties:
EXT. THE CONGO RIVER – AFRICA – TO ESTABLISH – DAY
This tells everyone that the scene takes place outside on the Congo River in Africa during daylight
hours. EXT. means Exterior. This scene heading also indicates this particular shot is simply to
establish the location. Of course, the scene may actually be photographed in Mexico or South
America instead of Africa but that’s what movie magic is all about.
INT. YAWL – CONGO RIVER – AFRICA – DAY
On the other hand, this scene heading indicates the scene takes place inside a boat on the Congo
River in Africa during daylight hours. INT. means Interior. Of course, with today’s sophisticated
computer graphics capabilities, it’s entirely possible to photograph the scene on a soundstage in
Hollywood against a green backdrop and digitally insert the river and background forest during
post-production.
As a screenwriter, the key thing to remember about scene headings is that they orient the reader
as to where we are physically in the story. Here are a few basic rules for writing scene headings:
- Always indicate interior like this:
INT.
And exterior like this:
EXT.
- There are really only four time designations that the camera can realistically
record: DAY, NIGHT, SUNRISE, or SUNSET. All others are variations. It’s
less confusing to line producers if you confine the designation to one of these. If
it’s important that the scene takes place at a time in between, indicate that in the
action-description by staging the scene in a way that matches the time of day. For
example, if it’s early morning (after sunrise), show rush hour or the newspaper
being delivered to a sleeping neighborhood. You may even write: Early Morning in
the action-description. - When designating scene locations, it’s clearer to go from specific to general. For
example, a scene inside Joe’s home needs to be in a specific place in the home.
Let’s say the scene takes place in the living room. Write it like this:
INT. LIVING ROOM – JOE’S HOME – DAY
Notice I start with the specific location: living room, then indicate the general
location, Joe’s home. - An establishing shot can be indicated in the scene heading or in the action-
description. - It’s good form to always write an action-description after a scene heading, especially
when there are characters talking in the scene. It’s better to establish for the
reader what we see on the screen, then to go directly into dialogue.
Of course, these aren’t hard and fast rules. Surveys of existing screenplays—produced and
unproduced—will quickly prove that these rules are bent and broken all the time. However,
these simple guidelines do help the reader to get the most out of the story and make it easier for
the producers and directors to execute their jobs.
