AboutBarry Pearson Expertise I`m a credited writer on nine feature films. My latest movie, IRON ROAD, which stars Peter O'Toole and Sam Neill,is being offered to festivals. Sun Li, the Chinese star, won the best actress award at the Roma Fiction Fest recently. www.ironroadthemovie.com)
I`m also the writer of over 40 hours of television drama for major networks in North America, and I`m a producer of three feature films and over 50 hours of television prime time drama.
I've received Best Screenplay, Best Picture awards at international film festivals around the world.
I've been coaching screen and television writers in person, and on the internet, for over ten years, and I've answered over 1000 All Experts questions!
Experience I've been in the business of writing and producing feature
films, television series, and MOW's for over 20 years. You
can check me out at this URL
http://www.createyourscreenplay.com/aboutbp.htm
In one scene of my script, a detective sits in the screening room and watches homemade videos created by a suspect. The scene intercuts between the screening room and the videos (when they were made), which I understand how to format.
Can you please tell me how I would format the scenes where the detective is watching the video? Would I use a V.O. for the character speaking in the video? I know there are several ways I could format this, but I would like a clear and concise method.
Interesting question. This is one of those situations in which you have options, depending on what you're attempting to achieve in the sequence.
You don't say what is on screen in the real life videotaping situation. Do we see the suspect with camera in hand? Do we only see the action in reality and not on screen? Etc.
Will you be showing events in reality that are not contained in the video the detective is watching? Will those events be ones that the detective needs to deduce from watching the video?
You need to ask yourself, "Why can't I just cut from the detective to the video screen?"
Screen sequences that you see on a monitor in a scene are usually accomplished by green-screening the monitor and inserting the material in CGI editing, which gives the director and editor flexibility of choice, unless the director wants to see the grainy screen quality for some reason.
So you can see there are a lot of variables, even more than I've listed.
As to format, you would typically use (V.O.) for the source voices when you're on the detective, and not seeing the screen. If you're seeing the screen and hearing the actor speaking, you would not use the V.O. beside the character name.
Hope this helps.
My Website Create Your Screenplay
www.createyourscreenplay.com
)