Day or Night when neither is apparent
In a scene where there is absolutely no way of telling whether it is day or night — say, when a character is inside a meat locker in the bowels of an underground nuclear bunker and has nothing but a Zippo to see by — should one write…
- INT. MEAT LOCKER – DAY
- or,
- INT. MEAT LOCKER
This is assuming it is daytime above, and realizing that there is no problem shooting the scene in the daytime.
– cbrown
There’s no universal consensus, but I vote for the former. Even if you’re not seeing the sun or the moon, there’s generally a “daytime” or a “nighttime” vibe. The crew of a space station, for example, needs to sleep at some point. Call that night.
Incidentally, don’t have the alien attack then. Kind of cliche, in my humble opinion.
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December 7th, 2005 at 9:09 am
What about if the meat locker is in the back of a meat truck and we dolly/steadicam into the meat locker from outside (DAY) only to find Frankie Carbone frozen solid and hanging from a meat hook? Name that movie!
December 7th, 2005 at 12:27 pm
I’m going to have to go ahead and disagree with you John. I always try to put in the least detail possible. If no one really cares thats its night or day then don’t mention it. But it is surprising how often it does matter!
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December 7th, 2005 at 1:13 pm
GF. And PETA should use the lead-up in their next anit-fur campaign…
As for the original question, I put the time in. I do remember (actually, was it in the Go script?) there being a: INT. TRUNK OF CAR — DAY? NIGHT?” used to indicate it the confusion of being trapped inside a place with no idea of time or space.
December 7th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
I think in most cases it would be useful to indicate that it’s day; it can help make things more clear for anyone trying to get a grasp on the story’s chronology (as far as what day it is, etc.).
December 9th, 2005 at 8:01 am
Hi John, Question: I have a space sp on the back-burner, and I wasn’t going to bother with DAY/NIGHT…sure, some times the ship is quieter than others…but most of my action is during the busy times. Would it be a mistake to leave out the DAY/NIGHT from the slug in your opinion?