Looking for script terminology explanations.

[Aris Boch]

I started reading Horizon pretty close to the start of the first season. I really enjoyed the stories and they are very engaging but I often feel the script format hard to get into. I've managed to get through the first season but haven't started the second. One reason I find I can't really enjoy the scripts is because I still do not understand much of the directions and formatting. If anyone could supply me with an explanation of these things it would be greatly appreciated.

[SierraGulf1]

Anything in particular? I was confused at first as well, and I'm still getting my bearings even after having written 2.09, but for the most part I can explain the terminology. Let's see, some commonly misunderstood ones:

"INT. HORIZON-CONTROL ROOM"
The INT. stands for an interior-set scene. EXT. would stand for an exterior scene. So the aforementioned scene would take place inside the Horizon control room. There can be INT/EXT markings at times, but let's not get into that.

"(beat)"
A beat is simply a short pause, usually intended for dramatic purposes.

"Establishing shot"
A scene usually used to determine the location of the following scene. In Horizon script it'll usually be Horizon itself. Think of those outside shots of Cheyenne Mountain on SG1.

Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment. I'll elaborate on more if you wish to specify.

[Alex Rubit]

I started reading Horizon pretty close to the start of the first season. I really enjoyed the stories and they are very engaging but I often feel the script format hard to get into. I've managed to get through the first season but haven't started the second. One reason I find I can't really enjoy the scripts is because I still do not understand much of the directions and formatting. If anyone could supply me with an explanation of these things it would be greatly appreciated.

I'm glad you've enjoyed the first season. It would greatly help if you could specify on what exactly it is of which you're not sure of what it means. We don't actually use too many "technical" descriptions. A term that I can think of right now would be (CONT'D), which just stands for "continued". That's used if a character speaks who had just previously spoken, meaning there might have been a pause between the dialogue or some kind of action might have taken place before the character continues speaking. It doesn't necessarily mean the dialogue goes on without a break. However, lately we're actually not using that anymore (makes matters much easier ). The reason for that is that this particular note is something that's no longer required in scripts. It used to be, but it's really become something a writer can either choose to make use of or not. The only event in which it's always used is if a character's speach continues on a new page (meaning it's spread across two pages). So, with the latest episodes you'll find a lot less (CONT'D) references. Not sure how many people noticed that, but that happened intentionally.

But feel free to specify on what exactly you've been having trouble understanding, and we'll gladly explain it.

[Aris Boch]

I had made assumptions about a lot of the things above. I assume V.O is voice over and P.O.V is point of view? I am also not very sure about a lot of the cuts, eg. smash cut. And I don't understand why some words are in complete uppercase.

[lionel_pendergast_rocks]

Well, the words in upper case are basically meant to be noticed, and are important to the scene, am i right, Alex? Also, in SGH scripts, characters names are capitalized the first time they appear in an episode.

I really havent figured out what a smash cut is, though.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

It'd be something like a sudden cut or if something actually "fits" the camera. I think.

[NoDot]

"Smash..." is when they cut immediately and quickly to something. A "Smash to Black" would be an immediate change to black, probably accompanied by something in the musical score.

Also, I'm still not so sure about the Establishing Shots. Why would you need to re-establish a location?

[SierraGulf1]

To be honest, sometimes to you don't. It's really up to the writer whether or not to use it, but it makes it more clear on camera and is usually done at the beginning of an episode.

You're correct, V.O. would be the speaker saying things over the action. A very common example of that is in flashbacks and "Previously On..."s.

You mentioned a few cuts you were confused about. One that comes to mind is the intercut. This is a quick transaction to another scene for a short period of time. Hard to explain. If two characters are speaking on a viewing screen or radio, you might see a quick flash to one of the characters talking, and then cut back to the other.

[NoDot]

To be honest, sometimes to you don't. It's really up to the writer whether or not to use it, but it makes it more clear on camera and is usually done at the beginning of an episode.

I can see a need for establishing something once during an episode and if you're going from one location to another (planet to planet), but if you'd already established a location and you're still there, why would you need to reestablish a location.

[SierraGulf1]

You usually wouldn't. Re-establish just means that you're coming back to a location from earlier in the episode, not from the last scene.

The only time, I think, that Horizon has re-established a location that we just saw was in "Parti Pris," and that was to show passage of time.

[Arctic Goddess]

Just a suggestion:

Why not post a "Dictionary" of the industry terms used in the scripts and their meanings somewhere on the Horizon homepage?

[SierraGulf1]

Good idea. I actually think I started working on one once.

[Alex Rubit]

Also, I'm still not so sure about the Establishing Shots. Why would you need to re-establish a location?

In a lot of television shows locations are re-established all of the time. Just take the SGC on SG-1 and Atlantis on Atlantis. You might see the location at the beginning of an episode, then perhaps again at the beginning of the first act, or just when we cut back after having had a scene or sequence take place at another location.

"Re-establishing" is just the term that's used for doing that. Technically you can just refer to it as "establishing" or "establishing shot" several times rather than calling it "re-establishing". Either way it just works better than saying "We see Horizon again" or something like that.

I guess the term can raise some questions if someone's not familiar with it, but whenever there's an establishing or re-establishing shot, we just see a particular location again to establish where the next scene or scenes will be taking place.

[Alex Rubit]

Well, the words in upper case are basically meant to be noticed, and are important to the scene, am i right, Alex? Also, in SGH scripts, characters names are capitalized the first time they appear in an episode.

I really havent figured out what a smash cut is, though.

Words in upper case are usually important aspects of the scene; i.e. a prop, a certain look or sometimes feel. Sound effects are usually in upper case as well. Again, this is a rule that can be twisted a bit, since some writers might tend to capitalize more than others. On TV shows it's just a matter of what the format of the particular show is, and as a new writer you'd simply adapt to that.

What's always capitalized is a character's first appearance in a script. Not the mention of a character's name, but a character's first physical appearance. The exception are non-speaking parts, unless they play a crucial role in the scene. If they're just background extras, they're entrance is not capitalized.

A smash cut is just a quick cut from one scene to another. It's the same as a hard cut. It's like a regular cut, just more "extreme" and quicker.

[Alex Rubit]

It'd be something like a sudden cut or if something actually "fits" the camera. I think.

Something that fits the camera is a "match-cut", if that's what you mean. It might be that we hold on a character, while switching from one location to another. Basically some aspect of the frame has to stay the same, be it a character or just the background.

Then there's a dissolve, which is a slow transicion from one scene to another, meaning we don't completely cut away, but the image slowly fades into the next scene. That's often used to show the passage of time aswell.