Handling a character’s POV shot
I have a character — let’s call him Evan — leans out an open kitchen window. I want it to be a POV shot, so everything on the screen is outside the window. Do I have to put the action of what’s going on, outside, under a new scene heading (EXT. FRONT YARD - DAY), or do I stay INT. KITCHEN and just throw in an EVAN’s POV:?
– Ryan
Los Angeles, CA
You can do either. The reader will understand that we’re looking outside. The main advantage to creating the EXT. scene header is that it reminds production that they need to secure an appropriate location. If the kitchen is a set built on a soundstage, they’ll need to find a corresponding exterior.
Here’s how I would write that scene:
- Evan is three spoonfuls into his muesli when he hears an EXPLOSION outside. Racing to the window…
- EXT. KITCHEN WINDOW / FRONT YARD - DAY
- …Evan leans out to see his Toyota Yaris flipped over on the front lawn, engulfed in flames.
I didn’t stress that the shot is from Evan’s point of view. It rarely matters, unless the audience needs to understand that one character in a scene can see something that another one can’t.
11 Responses to “Handling a character’s POV shot”
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Wow - you used the word muesli. And I drive a Yaris. Is this some coded message or should I keep taking my meds?
Seriously, though, a new arrival in the US I have been trying to purge my writing of all New Zealand/English-isms. So I have been busy gifting people my homemade ‘granola’. You’ve thrown me for a loop. Yes, you have.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Wow, product placement in a screenwriting blog. I’m impressed.
Sarah, just do a find and replace, changing “mate” to “dude.” “Good on ya, dude.” Perfectly natural.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
@Sarah — my wife’s a kiwi. I’m constantly trying to borrow her kiwi-ism’s and make them work in my dialogue. Doesn’t always pan out, because for some reason only kiwi’s can say that stuff and pull it off. It’s one of life’s mysteries to me.
ON TOPIC: POV is a way to make a moment more subjective too, but for me it’s more a director’s tool than a writer’s, because it doesn’t play as well on page I find.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Sarah, just watch FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS and see how to turn your Kiwisms into gold. Except dont make as much fun of my country.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:54 am
POVs only matter when they describe HOW a character percieves his environment (as in NIGHT VISION, TERMINATOR, PREDATOR, etc.). The ONLY truly important POV in a script is the writer’s.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
A new EXT. scene suggests that the camera is outside.
To me the scene basically reads like two setups: Evan leaning out (facing us/the camera) and then his pov of the Yaris.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:41 am
@Johnny:
I agree. It’s sometimes hard to avoid resorting to “POV” or “WHAT BILL SEES” or other things like that, but it’s worth the effort to find a different way to describe what you mean. Most of us on this blog are firmly entrenched in the spec world, which means that it’s far more important that our script read well than be easily translated into a shot list by a director and DP. To me, the less a screenplay sounds like a screenplay, the better it reads. So, less focus on film grammar and more focus on writing clear, clever prose and dialogue.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:52 am
@Anna: You’re right. John’s version does suggest (clearly) 2 different camera setups - it’s even in the slugline “KITCHEN WINDOW/FRONT YARD”: shot/reverse shot. To stay closer to Ryan’s authorial intention - and without mentioning the camera or the word “POV” - you could write it like this:
Evan is three spoonfuls into his muesli when he hears an EXPLOSION outside. He races to the window to see…
EXT. FRONT YARD - DAY
…his Toyota Yaris flipped over on the front lawn, engulfed in flames.
Either way, you do need to use a new EXT slugline for what happens outside - regardless of whether the camera will be placed INT or EXT.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:53 pm
In the example, would the word “see” need to be in all caps?
August 4th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
My approach is similar to Donovan’s. I would write:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Evan is three spoonfuls into his muesli.
An EXPLOSION rocks the building.
He knocks over his tiny kitchen table as he races to the window to see:
EXT. FRONT YARD - DAY
His Toyota Yaris is flipped over on the front lawn, engulfed in flames.
OR this:
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Evan is three spoonfuls into his muesli.
An EXPLOSION rocks the building.
He knocks over his tiny kitchen table as he races to the window.
EVAN’S POV:
Out he window, his Toyota Yaris is flipped over on the FRONT LAWN, engulfed in flames.
BACK TO SCENE:
Shaking with fear, Evan backs away from the window.
It would depend on, as John mentioned, whether or not it was truly important that the shot be POV because it is important that the audience know that only Evan is seeing this happen. Most likely I’d do option 1, unless I needed option 2.
My $0.02.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:11 am
@ Mike, In Donovan’s example “see” does not need to be in caps. You can feel comfortable using caps sparingly. It’s rarely needed, though it is an option.