Screenwriting : Script Formatting: The Scene Heading... "Same", "Continuous" or Something Else? by Marcel Nault Jr.

I typically use continuous.

If the characters are moving from one scene to the next, then I would use CONTINUOUS. If people are in different spaces then I would use SAME. So think of the movie CLUE (don't look at the script, formatting is a bit different when the writer is also the director and it was written in the 80s). There is a scenes where the group of characters run from one room to another and the camera goes with them. That would be CONTINUOUS. Later in the story, they split up in pairs throughout the house, so as you're cutting from one to the other, you would write SAME. Hope that helps, and if anyone else has thoughts on this, please chime in!

Emily has summed this up perfectly : ) If you download scripts where some scenes play out in this way you can see how the writers convey this on paper.

Stop reading articles & how-to books and read a big stack of spec scripts by writers who actually write for a living. For example download the BlackList best unproduced specs of 2022. Your brain need to learn by repetition, so one day scene headings on the page is automatic like breathing air.

These two words have inherent meaning that were applied to screenwriting but not changed.

How about that! Screenwriting is like taking the English SAT.

Dan MaxXx Personally, reading articles and books have helped me in the long run. I did read some scripts too. At this stage, it's all about what to take and what to let go.

Thank you all for your tips. I'll consider everyone of them for my script.

Are you talking about moving from one location to another in a master location? HOUSE to LIVING ROOM to KITCHEN to BASEMENT, etc.? You'll get different answers on that, but I've been told that you can never go wrong ditching SAME or CONTINUOUS in favor of just using DAY or NIGHT for each scene.

I think production crews need DAY or NIGHT for scheduling purposes and page after page of SAME or CONTINUOUS makes it a little more difficult for them.

Dan, thank you so much for the advice. I'll definitely consider that. It's much easier for me.

It sounds like what I was told isn’t wrong as much as it was coming from somebody who is production oriented and was encouraging me to think that way, too. If someone else is going to have to come in and change all the SAMEs and CONTINUOUS notations to DAY or NIGHT, I think the person who told me that (a seasoned professional with recognizable credits) was just trying to make it easier for them, and telling me not to worry about it.

Marcel, the other suggestion that occurred to me is that I tend to INTERCUT scenes if they are happening at the same time. To me, it doesn’t make sense to have a scene, sometimes running more than one page, and get to the next scene and then see that it is supposed to happen at the same time as the last.

Clarity and keeping people moving through the read are a priority. I don’t want readers thinking wait, what? and have to scroll back to the previous slug line to see when it was taking place.

No rules or laws on any of this. Do what works.

Would that confuse the reader though? To me, CONTINUOUS or MOMENTS LATER seems more appropriate to design scenes that happen one IMMEDIATELY after the other. Sure, you don't want to abuse CONTINUOUS for every slugline, but it should be logical.

Continuous is for a character moving from one location to another on camera... Same is same exact time as previous scene

Right, it makes total sense, Dan. I forgot about the production script. Thanks!