Do You Know How to Hook the Reader
and Get Your Screenplay Read, not Tossed?

#6: "Thou shalt cut to the chase"

We asked our format expert, Matt, aka Formatman, to lead us through the 10 screenplay formatting commandments.

If you missed the introduction to this series of articles, you may want to check it out first.
Here is the link to Part 1, where it all started.

Whatascript:
Formatman, what is this screenplay formatting commandment about?

Formatman:
Cars!
Why? simply because most movies have car scenes and it's important to get their screenplay format right.

Whatascript:
What will you cover?

Formatman:
First the basic car situations and when to use them.

Then some specific car scenes you often see in movies and may wonder what their screenplay format is. For example:

• a chase


• an accident


• headlights in a room


• taking a gun from the glove compartment


• seeing a character / object in the rear mirror


• someone banging against the car


• being stopped by the police

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Part 1 - Car scenes 101

Formatman:
First, the basics!
Ask yourself. Where do you want to put the focus of the reader?

• on the car itself,
• on the activity in the car, or
• on both?

Your answer to this question determines how to write the car scene.

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Option 1) Putting the focus on the car

There are basically 2 reasons to do that:

• the car - and the activity around it - is the object of interest in the scene, NOT what is happening in the car,


• you first want to show the car in its environment before showing what's happening inside the car.

In both cases the car is part of the Exterior set.
In terms of screenplay format, the master scene heading starts therefore with EXT.

This is the beginning of a draft version of Gone in 60 seconds, screenplay written by Scott Rosenberg.
This scene got edited later on, but it illustrates the point:

In this example the car is even introduced as a secondary master heading to put emphasis on it.

   EXT. LONG BEACH STREET - LOWER GRAND - NIGHT       The streets are empty. Low fog skims the sidewalks below a gray stew   of a sky. It's slightly fuzzy, slightly surreal. The vast Port of Los   Angeles is visible in the b.g... No cars parked here ... No cars    except -     A '67 SHELBY MUSTANG GT-500                   Silver with deep grill, its sculptured side panels ending in air   scoops ... All cock and balls, it stands alone in the lonely cool   before dawn ... An old-school totem to speed and style...   

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Option 2) Putting the focus on the INSIDE of the car

There are again basically 2 reasons to do that:

• the activity inside of the car is more important than what we see outside of the car, or


• we already saw the car in its environment before and you now want to get to what's happening in the car.

In both cases, the character watches the outside world through the window and often in thrillers / crime / action movies through binoculars.

The car is then considered as an Interior set. The master scene heading starts therefore with INT.

This is an extract from 8MM, screenplay written by Andrew Kevin Walker.

   INT.  WELLES' CAR -- NIGHT     Welles still watches the house.  There's a light on in one   of the second floor windows, curtains closed.    Welles yawns, shaking his head, trying to stay awake.    At the quaint house, a light comes on in the front picture   window.  Looks like a living room or dining room.  The old   woman comes to sit at a table.    Welles takes binoculars off the front seat...    THROUGH BINOCULARS    The old woman says something to someone we cannot see.   

In above examples the cars were parked. If the car is moving you use the following screenplay format:

• INT. CHARLIE'S MINI (MOVING) - NIGHT


• INT. MINI (CRUISING) - DAY


• INT. MOVING BLACK CAR -- NIGHT


• INT. CAR TRAVELLING-- MEPHAM STREET -- DAY

The first 2 examples are from The Italian Job, screenplay written by Donna Powers and Wayne Powers.
The last 2 examples are from The Bourne Ultimatum, screenplay written by Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi.

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Option 3) Putting the focus on BOTH inside and outside

We usually first see the car in its environment, then we switch to the occupant(s) of the car and the action taking place in the car.

There are 2 common screenplay formats to show that:

• as separate scenes


• using an extended scene line

i) As separate scenes

In this case the screnplay format will usually start with EXT. showing the car and follow with INT. to take care of the action inside of the car.

This is an extract from Babel, screenplay written by Guillermo Arriaga.

   EXT. DESERT -- DAY               The Moroccan police trucks drive down the dusty roads. The   landscape is harsh and barren.                  INT. POLICE TRUCK -- DAY               Hassan's wife gives directions.                          WIFE             Make a right here.    Alarid, with his hand, signals the driver to follow her   directions.              Suddenly, in the distance, over the hills, she signals three   tiny dots running up a slope.                                    WIFE (CONT'D)             That's them.                                                                                                                                     ALARID                 (To the driver)             Stop...              The trucks stop and Alarid takes out his binoculars.              P.O.V. ALARID'S BINOCULARS -- CONTINUOUS               In the distance, we can still see Abdullah, Yussef and Ahmed   run across the hills. Abdullah is clearly carrying the rifle.   

Side notes on binoculars and POV:

• You may have noticed that Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) uses a different screenplay format for the binoculars than Andrew Kevin Walker (8MM) does.
  First he uses POV (Point Of View) while it was implied in 8MM, and he uses POV as a master scene heading while it was a secondary scene heading in 8MM.
  It shows once more that there is not one single way to go about screenplay format.



• If one of the characters was to speak while watching through his binoculars his name in the dialogue part would be followed by (O.S.), which means OFF SCREEN.
  Why? because he's at the scene location but not in the camera frame. We would hear him, but not see him, since we see what he sees through his binoculars.



• POV is usually followed by BACK TO SCENE or a Master heading.


• POV is sometimes considered as a camera direction, so use it with moderation (see screenplay formatting commandment #5 about that).

ii) Focus on BOTH inside and outside - Using an extended scene line

The screenplay format in this case uses INT./EXT. or EXT./INT. depending on whether the scene starts inside or outside the car.

Doing so ties both the INT. and EXT. scenes together as if they intertwined.

This is an example from Drive, screenplay written by Hossein Amini.

   INT/EXT. IMPALA/ ELECTRONICS SUPERSTORE/ DOWNTOWN - NIGHT                               Driver reaches under the seat and pulls out a small handheld   scanner. He switches it on, tuning it to the right frequency.   Crackling police dispatches are interspersed with the basketball   commentary now.                                            POLICE SCANNER   ...9 Adam 81, what is your current   location?...Repeat, what is your current   location?...                                            BASKETBALL COMMENTARY   ...Another unbelievable three pointer from   Davis and the Clippers are within five!...                             Out of the corner of his eye Driver sees two MEN approach. He   doesn't react, expecting them. They cut through the fence with   bolt cutters and approach the main building. Driver watches them   pull on their masks, then one of them takes out a shotgun and   blasts the lock to the front door. Instantly the alarm shrills.   The only thing Driver does is to turn on his stop watch.                                 BASKETBALL COMMENTARY   ...Time out Knicks...                             The stop watching keeps ticking away, the siren blaring, the   commentary continuing, the police scanner crackling.                             The storefront is hidden in shadow, impossible to tell what's   going on inside. Driver looks at his stop watch. Almost three   minutes. One of the masked men emerges now, carrying a duffel   bag.      

For more use of INT./EXT. in non car related scenes, see 2nd formatting commandment: "Thou shalt not let the reader get lost"

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Part 2 - The Chase

Whatascript:
Shall we now cut to the chase?

Formatman:
Definitely. Now that we have gone through the basics we can go through specific situations, starting with car chases.

There are different ways to write them in terms of screenplay format.
Let's go through two of them:

• using a series of master scene headings


• using secondary scene headings within a scene

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i) Writing a chase using master scene headings

In this example from Basic Instinct, written by Joe Eszterhas, the screenplay format uses basically two master scene headings (INT. PORSCHE and EXT. THE STREETS) and keeps switching between them.

We get to see the actions of the main character, Nick Curran, from inside his Porsche. And we follow the chase he has with a Ferrari, which nearly ran him over, from the outside.

   INT. THE PORSCHE    The Ferrari is up ahead and makes a wild right turn onto a    road going up a hillside.  He yanks the wheel hard.    EXT. THE STEPS    The Porsche rockets up the steps -- bouncing high into the    air, almost out of control.                                                                         INT. THE PORSCHE    As it crests the steps and gets to the street.  Nick GUNS it    and it looks like it flies high down the hill-side into    blackness.    EXT. THE STREET    But it lands on more steps -- heading downward -- bucking,    almost spinning, it bounces onto the next street.    INT. THE PORSCHE    Another set of steps leading up he GUNS it, it rockets up,    ROARS, bucking --    EXT. THE STREET    And lands on the next street.  Nick makes a wild right turn    onto the street.  And the black Ferrari appears from around a    curve to the right, heading right for him.    INT. THE PORSCHE    Nick steps on the GAS and heads head-on for the Ferrari.    The Ferrari SCREAMS head-on for him.                   EXT. THE STREET    And at the last moment, in the game of chicken, the Ferrari    tries to swerve around him on this narrow road, goes out of    control and over the side, turning over and over as it rolls    down the hillside.    

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ii) Writing a chase using secondary scene headings

Another way to write such a scene in terms of screenplay format is to use secondary scene headings within an extended scene line.

Each character or main object in the scene gets to be written as a secondary scene heading. And from time to time a new extended scene line

This is an example from The Bourne Supremacy, screenplay written by Tony Gilroy.

      INT./EXT. MOSCOW STREETS/CARS/FACES -- DAY       THE CAB speeding across A BOULEVARD into an older    neighborhood of rising narrow streets and --                 TWO MOSCOW POLICE CARS PULLING U-TURNS on the BOULEVARD --    whipping around to give chase and --     THE G-WAGON in full pursuit now and --     BOURNE DRIVING  -- up this curving little hill and --                   THE TWO MOSCOW POLICE CARS  starting to climb and --     KIRILL DRIVING  and he's on the hill now --     BOURNE  -- bad hand on the wheel -- holding on -- trying to    find something in passenger seat -- TUBE SOCKS?      THE TWO MOSCOW POLICE CARS  splitting up! -- one on Bourne's    ass -- the other cutting hard into A SIDE STREET, flanking     him and --     BOURNE -- topping the hill -- two choices -- right or left?  

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Part 3 - How did they write that?

Sounds familiar? you watch a movie and suddenly wonder: how's the screenplay format of that scene?

Well, wonder no more, and click to find out about the Top 6 Common Car Actions.

Whatascript:
This concludes this this article on the 6th screenplay formatting commandment: Thou shalt cut to the chase.
Thank you, Formatman.

Formatman:
May the Format be with you!

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The 10 commandments of screenplay format -
Read the last part of the 6th commandment:

"Thou shalt cut to the chase"

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Credits:

Pictures and screenplay extracts:

-- "The Bourne Identity" - Matt Damon (Bourne), Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron (screenplay), Doug Liman (director), Oliver Wood (director of Photography)

-- "Gone in 60 seconds" - Scott Rosenberg (screenplay), Dominic Sena (director), Paul Cameron (director of Photography)

-- "8MM" - Andrew Kevin Walker (screenplay), Joel Schumacher (director), Robert Elswit (director of photography)

-- "The Italian Job" - Donna Powers and Wayne Powers (screenplay)

-- "The Bourne Ultimatum" - Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi (screenplay), Paul Greengrass (director), Oliver Wood (director of Photography)

-- "Babel" - Ehou Mama (wife), Guillermo Arriaga (screenplay), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (director), Rodrigo Prieto (director of Photography)

-- "Drive" - Hossein Amini (screenplay), Nicolas Winding Refn (director), Newton Thomas Sigel (director of Photography)

-- "Basic Instinct" - Joe Eszterhas (screenplay), Paul Verhoeven (director), Jan de Bont (director of Photography)

-- "The Bourne Supremacy" - Matt Damon (Bourne), Tony Gilroy (screenplay), Paul Greengrass (director), Oliver Wood (director of Photography)

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* Avatar, screenplay written by James Cameron