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Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.?cdThe difference between immorality and immortality is "T". I like Earl Grey.

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[nq:1]Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.? cd The difference between immorality and immortality is "T". I like Earl Grey.[/nq]
What I do is INT/ EXT - DAY then continue on with the scene. The car hurtles down the highway. In the car the boys are singing Band On The Run. A police car turns its siren on and gives chase. The boys panic and take off. A chase ensues.
Not sure if this is standard, but so far so good. Then again, if you have a Cheech and Chong Up in Smoke scene, where they're stoned in the car for five minutes, INT is called for,, until it's EXT and you see the car has not moved the whole time.

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[nq:1]Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.?[/nq]
You know, there's an actual rule about int./ext. and ext./int., that I didn't know until I was talking to an AD recently.

int./ext. means the camera is inside looking out. ext./int. means the camera is outside looking in.
That means your typical car shot should be int./ext. if the scene primarily takes place inside the car with the passengers, but there are times when others could be appropriate as well.
-Ron

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[nq:1]Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.?[/nq]
I love this question. What a great one. It seems like the answers are a hundred times more complicated than the question though. A google search for int./ext. produced a list that had this link:
http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/Scene Headings.htm

One of the least coherent, most tortured wastes of bandwidth I've ever seen .
But what a question...
I only wonder how you'd write the scene heading if you're shooting a scene that takes place in a car, with some sort of action just outside the car but the scene is being shot on a stage? Would that then be: EXT./INT./EXT. ?
Some interior car scenes are definitely shot on location but the setups for the EXT. are most definately different than the ones INT. ... so I write INT. for the inside the car scene and cut to EXT. for the action outside. I try to write POVs in a way that isn't directing, when needed, and occasionallly waste a line on INTERCUT: but since I don't know how the movie will be shot until it's being broken down I don't worry about all the tricky stuff. INT. is INT. and EXT. is EXT.
On the other hand, I probably would write the scene heading for the inside-the-car scene as:
INT. MARK'S CAR BEACH PARKED DAY
and the outside the car stuff as:
EXT. BEACH DAY
The little girl looks into Mark's car.
Maybe the AD will want to use his own language for this scene later, if it ever gets to pre-production, but for now, keep it simple. IMHO.

"Hollywood is the only place in
the world where you can die
of encouragement."
- Pauline Kael

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.?[/nq]
[nq:1]I love this question. What a great one. It seems like the answers are a hundred times more complicated than the question though. A google search for int./ext. produced a list that had this link: http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/Scene Headings.htm One of the least coherent, most tortured wastes of bandwidth I've ever seen . But what a question... I only wonder how you'd write the scene heading if you're shooting a scene that takes place in a car, with some sort of action just outside the car but the scene is being shot on a stage? Would that then be: EXT./INT./EXT. ? Some interior car scenes are definitely shot on location but the setups for the EXT. are most definately different than the ones INT. ... so I write INT. for the inside the car scene and cut to EXT. for the action outside. I try to write POVs in a way that isn't directing, when needed, and occasionallly waste a line on INTERCUT: but since I don't know how the movie will be shot until it's being broken down I don't worry about all the tricky stuff. INT. is INT. and EXT. is EXT. On the other hand, I probably would write the scene heading for the inside-the-car scene as: INT. MARK'S CAR BEACH PARKED DAY and the outside the car stuff as: EXT. BEACH DAY The little girl looks into Mark's car. Maybe the AD will want to use his own language for this scene later, if it ever gets to pre-production, but for now, keep it simple. IMHO. "Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can die of encouragement." - Pauline Kael[/nq]
I think simplicity is really the issue but depending on the scene, that can take you either way.
If you've got a scene that takes place completely inside the car (say the scene between Terry Malloy and his brother) then there's no problem it's obviously just "INT., THE CAR."
If you've got a scene that takes place completely outside the car say it's a "traffic stop" scene with a cop outside a car talking to somebody inside where the POV is always outside a stopped car it's going to be EXT., THE CAR"
But you've also got scenes where you've got a single continuous scene where the action shifts seamlessly back and forth between the inside and the outside of a car.
Take, for instance, any number of scenes from the original Terminator where characters are talking in a car and then there's action of various kinds happening outside the car say the Terminator jumping on the hood, punching his fist through the windshield, trying to grab Sarah Connor, they ram something, knocking him off, drive away.

Obviously, the "Interior" of the car and the "Exterior" are all part of the same scene. Now, who knows? Maybe they were shot at completely different times and completely different places. But that's always going to be possible with anything. Maybe different parts of Interiors or different parts of Exteriors might be shot that way.

The point is, as you're writing the scene, the Interior of the car and the Exterior of the Car are inextricably interwoven in the action and were to try to break Interiors and Exteriors apart as separate scenes, it would be terribly confusing.
That's when you'd be using INT/EXT.
And personally, I've always put first whatever the scene starts with.

NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Should a scene in a car or bus be INT. or EXT.?[/nq]
I think the general rule about thinking about what you're trying to do with the scene answers the question.
Usually, it's just having a normal conversation, and the characters are travelling somewhere.
That's clearly an INT. CAR, since it's often easier to rear project on a stage than to actually go on location. And when you have an EXT. SCENE, you mention whatever the car is driving past. Too many switches within the same scene, and you're directing from the page.

You could have an EXT. CAR, but that suggests that the background is not important, and something's happening next to the car is, like:

EXT. CAR - DAY
The T-101 leaps, clutching onto the rear bumper as it's dragged along the ground at 40 miles per hour.
Punching handholds into the trunk, the T-101 pulls itself onto the back of the car.

There used to be a red pill that dentists would give kids to chew to make sure that they brushed everywhere. I suppose the writing equivalent would be imaging bright red WTF?!s written all over the script, and brushing it away through scene headings and descriptions that easily communicate what's happening to the reader. At least that's what I took from MC's analyses : )

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[nq:2]I love this question. What a great one. It seems like the answers are a hundred times more complicated than the question though. A google search for int./ext. produced a list that had this link: http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/Scene Headings.htm One of the least coherent, most tortured wastes of bandwidth I've ever seen . But what a question... I only wonder how you'd write the scene heading if you're shooting a scene that takes place in a car, with some sort of action just outside the car but the scene is being shot on a stage? Would that then be: EXT./INT./EXT. ? Some interior car scenes are definitely shot on location but the setups for the EXT. are most definately different than the ones INT. ... so I write INT. for the inside the car scene and cut to EXT. for the action outside. I try to write POVs in a way that isn't directing, when needed, and occasionallly waste a line on INTERCUT: but since I don't know how the movie will be shot until it's being broken down I don't worry about all the tricky stuff. INT. is INT. and EXT. is EXT. On the other hand, I probably would write the scene heading for the inside-the-car scene as: INT. MARK'S CAR BEACH PARKED DAY and the outside the car stuff as: EXT. BEACH DAY The little girl looks into Mark's car. Maybe the AD will want to use his own language for this scene later, if it ever gets to pre-production, but for now, keep it simple. IMHO. "Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can die of encouragement." - Pauline Kael[/nq]
[nq:1]I think simplicity is really the issue but depending on the scene, that can take you either way. If ... be terribly confusing. That's when you'd be using INT/EXT. And personally, I've always put first whatever the scene starts with.[/nq]
Yeah, you could do that, and it would be fine, but I usually do the INT. and the EXT. and use the Intercut: until that particular sequence is over. Like I said, when it's getting broken down, they'll know (at least at that moment in time) if they're going to work in a general continuity or not and schedule it whichever way it needs to be done (or not).
"Hollywood is the only place in
the world where you can die
of encouragement."
- Pauline Kael

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"Ron"
[nq:1]You know, there's an actual rule about int./ext. and ext./int., that I didn't know until I was talking to an ... primarily takes place inside the car with the passengers, but there are times when others could be appropriate as well.[/nq]
I also never knew that. I always thought it depended on where the action took place. So I went looking for examples.
These two are from the "30 Days of Night" shooting script:
INT./EXT. HELEN?S HOUSE - NIGHT
Eben looks out the window outside Iris is collapsing to the ground, a CHARRED HUSK. Marlow is VISIBLY ORDERING the other two attackers to tear the generator loose
EBEN
It worked once but they?re killing
the power !
The above is clearly an example of the camera inside looking outside.
EXT./INT. AIRPORT ROAD/BILLY?S 4X4 - NIGHT
Stella stares crestfallen at a SINGLE JET, capacity 120, ROARING OFF OVERHEAD
STELLA
No, no, no, no !
Presumably the camera is looking through the windscreen at her emoting as a departing jet plane is half-reflected in the glass. Or maybe it is a shot of her taken through an open window as we hear the SOUND of a jet plane taking off.
To me, this level of detail is OK in a shooting script, but I question whether it belongs in a spec script. When you are thinking of where to put the camera, you are thinking like a director, which of course is a good thing, but my understanding is that you are not supposed to make it obvious. I would have given the first an INT. and the second an EXT.
[nq:1]From "The Bourne Supremacy" shooting script:[/nq]
INT. COTTAGE LIVING AREA/BATHROOM NIGHT
BOURNE moving for the medicine cabinet. Digs through the medicine cabinet. Downs something specific.
INT./EXT. COTTAGE LIVING ROOM/VERANDA NIGHT
One minute later. BOURNE moves out onto the veranda.

MARIE pads in. Watching him for a moment. Concerned. Clearly it's not the first time this has happened.

They both look different than last we saw them; his hair is longer. She's a blonde. Hippie travelers. Their cottage is humble but sweet. The bedroom opens to a beach and a town just down the hill. CLUB MUSIC from some all night rave wafting in from the far distance.
MARIE
Where were you, Jason?
Now here I agree with an INT./EXT. even in the spec script because the action flows without a break from inside the room to outside on the balcony.

Martin

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(snip snip snip)
What if the car is a convertible?
ZW

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[nq:1](snip snip snip) What if the car is a convertible?[/nq]
What if the convertible drives into a garage?

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