INTERCUTTING SCENES
THESE ARE SCENES ON A COLLISION COURSE.
This technique is great to use when you want to grab viewers by the collar and yank them into
the story by making them feel what the characters are feeling. A great way to create tension and
suspense is the intercutting together of two or more scenes that ultimately lead to a point of crisis. This technique is especially useful if you are writing a sequence involving a life-and-
death situation.
Intercutting Technique Example
EXT. SUSAN’S HOME – NIGHT
The Maniac BREAKS THE WINDOW PANE with a vicious blow of his gloved fist.
INT. LIVING ROOM – SUSAN’S HOME – NIGHT
Susan gasps with horror as the GLASS FLIES EVERYWHERE! She turns and runs for the hallway.
The Maniac leaps through the window with intent to kill.
INT. BEDROOM – SUSAN’S HOME – NIGHT
Susan races to the nightstand in terror.
IN THE LIVING ROOM
The Maniac pulls a big gun from his waistband.
IN THE BEDROOM
Susan snatches open the drawer of the nightstand.
THE HALLWAY
The Maniac LOCKS and LOADS the automatic pistol with venom, heads
directly for the open bedroom door.
THE DOOR as Susan takes out the gun from the drawer.
The Killer raises his pistol.
Susan turns—raises her gun without a thought.
BOTH GUNS SPIT FIRE!
The Maniac’s eyes are calm. A beat, then he drops in a heap.
The gun in Susan’s hand trembles. She clenches her jaws in gratified
anger, a big hole in the wall behind her.
As you can see by the example, this technique can be an extremely potent way to grab the audience
by the collar and pull their emotions into a scene. The first thing to do is to establish the major scenes
using scene headings (or sluglines) before you start intercutting them. The rule of thumb is to make
sure the reader doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of the sequence. The use of mini-sluglines can also
enhance the experience for the reader. This technique drops the use of INT. and TIME OF DAY in
order to focus on the location of the scene. Also, an effective technique is to vary the lengths of the
mini-sluglines as they progress in the sequence so that it takes less time to read each. For example,
during intercutting, the sequence’s rhythm builds like this:
IN THE BEDROOM
THE HALLWAY
THE DOOR
Notice that there are progressively fewer words used in each mini-slugline. This gives the narrative
style a sense of urgency.
