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How To Write Intercut Scenes – Intercut scenes in your screenplay can show off your storytelling ability and help you save page length. This is how.
You may have participated in your screenplay where multiple scenes or actions are happening at once. You hate writing a dozen slugs and feel like you’re wasting page space writing back and forth.
How To Write Intercut Scenes
Enter the intersection, a useful tool for handling simultaneous activity in any screen script. Let’s look at how to intercut scenes in your screenplay. We’ll go over script format, ways to use interpolation, and look at some famous examples of interpolation in film.
Screenplay Format Guide: Scene Headings
When a movie script changes from one scene to another, which happens at the same time, this is called an INTERCUT. Instead of writing multiple scene headings, you can write one scene heading for each location and then indicate that the scenes are INTERCUT together by placing that INTERCUT at the top right of the page.
When formatting a script, you want to clearly define how objects are interspersed. You need to give correct scene headings once, and then on the left side of the page indicate that things are intersecting.
Now that you understand the formatting of the intercut, let’s talk about some creative uses of it within the film. This also applies to television, but I tried to find the most famous examples.
The intercut here is done for a particular effect. We see Michael Corleone rejecting Satan, as murders he ordered occur around him. He is doing that to protect his family, the way a good father should. He is only baptizing his soul for the sake of baptizing his soul.
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Here, the intercut shows us that Michael also used the baptism as an alibi while killing people around the world.
. In this Sergio Leone classic, we cross paths between the Man With No Name and his nemesis as they make their way towards each other.
This intersection between good and evil as they work towards the final impasse. This idea makes you question how much violence is happening for money and reinforces the moral of the film.
, the most meme’d interlude occurs at the end of the film. One man descends to the dark side, and the love of his life considers two children strong from the forces – Luke and Leia. As you can hear in the video below, George Lucas originally wrote these scenes separately but got the intercut in the edit. That happens all the time. But if you’re imagining your movie in your head while you’re writing it, try to figure out your intersections first.
Portfolio Of Evidence
Want to write an original script? Looking for answers can be difficult, so let’s take the brainstorming together.
When you write as much as I do, there are times when you feel like you’ve run out of ideas. You can’t figure out the beat of a story or maybe there’s a plot device that isn’t working out.
It’s those moments when I like to shake things up and try things I would never do to solve the problem of the story.
Outside-the-box writing exercises for screenwriters specifically aim to sharpen skills such as dialogue, scene construction and visual storytelling.
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I talked to some friends, did some research, and tried to put together what I believe to be some great ways to wake up inside you just and put together the good fight in writing.
When the going gets tough, I like to write a scene without dialogue that conveys the emotions of characters and the story through action and vision alone.
These actions can break up a scene and can take the pressure out of writing the dialogue. You focus on what works in the story and what doesn’t.
Take a scene from your favorite movie and make it your version. Take your characters and put them in the same situation. How do they react? Use some pastiche and make it your own.
How To Write A Telephone Conversation In A Screenplay
Maybe you’re telling the story through the eyes of the wrong characters. Take the scene where you are struggling and look at it from a different angle.
What are the themes in your story? Write a few lines about why you believe in them and what you want to tell the world about them. If you understand the themes more clearly, maybe they can point to scenes that you should have that express them.
Choose a random object and write a scene where the object plays a central role in the story, revealing the character or advancing the plot. Make that prop in the middle of the scene, where the hammer is inside
Write multiple short scenes that take place in the same place but each tell a different story or come from a different genre.
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Write a scene and then rewrite it in several different genres. For example, a romantic scene is rewritten as horror, sci-fi, or comedy.
Create a scene where characters say one thing, but their subtext and actions convey the opposite. Sometimes this will open up a whole new set of motivations.
Take an everyday activity and write it as the most exciting and uplifting scene possible. Can you add drama to washing the dishes or mowing the lawn?
Write a scene with a constraint that forces creativity, as no characters can enter or exit, or the entire scene must be one continuous shot.
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Write a scene where we see a character alone, doing something they would never do in front of others, revealing their true self. Give them that little glimpse of who they really are on the inside.
Write a scene where other people are talking about the main character but he is never seen on screen. What do people say behind their backs? How do they frame them?
Write a scene that begins as a flashback and then transitions into the present in a way that changes the context or meaning of the first scene.
Write an interview with your main character or server. How do they respond to deep or unexpected questions? What happens when the questions get harder?
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Listen to a piece of instrumental music and write a story that you think fits the mood of the music. Then score the scene you are working on the song. Let the beats come together and see where it takes you.
The key to advancing your craft as a screenwriter is to continually challenge yourself with new exercises that push the limits of your creativity and skills.
By stepping outside the usual boundaries of character development, dialogue, and plot structure, you open yourself up to a world of innovative storytelling possibilities. You want your script to be read easily and quickly. Have you ever been writing and thought to yourself, “there must be an easier way to format this?” Well, let me introduce a handy device called the intersection!
Hold your place in line, screenwriter! We are about to launch SoCreate Authoring Software to a limited number of beta testers.
Request] Formatting Question About Cutaway Scenes
Intercuts can be used to play out two scenes in parallel without all the snail lines. It saves you space and time, allowing you to skip writing a new scene as you bounce back and forth between scenes.
An intercut could be used to cut between any two scenes taking place; he is often seen cutting between scenes in a phone conversation.
Here is an example of a made up scene from Riverdale. Why Riverdale? Well, I’ve been watching it lately, and that’s exactly what came to mind!
See, it makes reading faster than the alternative, writing a million view titles for every position change. It also kind of makes you want to watch Riverdale, right? Anyway…
How To Write Parallel Action In A Script
Although it’s not as common to use interjections in situations other than phone conversations, you can be creative with your use of them. You could use cutscenes to cut between the action taking place in two different places, or use them to build suspense in a cat-and-mouse fashion between two characters. These are a bit trickier, and you’ll need to use your best judgment as to whether using interjection will be clear enough for the reader. If there are more than two characters involved, I will warn you to reconsider if it is wise to use an interjection; it will probably get too confusing.
(Full disclosure, I’ve saved it so far in my writing, and have only used it intermittently for phone convos, and once for two people emailing each other.)
Intersections are one of those screenwriting tricks that when you figure it out, you’re like “Oh, that makes formatting sense!” I know I was happy when I first learned about it!
I hope my talk about this technique helps! Happy writing, may your scripts be easy to read and well formatted.
Scene Numbers — Blog — Slugline
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