Screenwriting Contest 2018 | CLOSED

HEADERS

INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT

Small. Dark. A cupboard-sized space with a toilet. The cracked mirror hangs at a precarious angle above -

THE SCREENWRITER, a hunchbacked typing slave who has made the toilet their throne. Glazed eyes scream zombie. Their face is illuminated by the dim glow of a screen. Casting shadows like an old Hollywood monster.

The Screenwriter looks up from writing, yet persists on typing.

THE SCREENWRITER
Hello.

Screenwriter diverts their attention -

Back to the screen for a moment. Drawn to the glow like a moth to flame. Then -

Back to the audience.

THE SCREENWRITER (CONT')
Apologies. My kind is not the most social bunch. You're here to learn about headers, correct? Yes. I see you nodding. Don't be shy. Come closer. There is much to learn.

Screenwriter tilts the alluring glow of the laptop to the audience, entrancing them with-

THE SCREENWRITER (CONT')
Headers. Quite simple, aren't they? Just decide if you're inside or outside. Then, the location. And finally, the time. Have a look.

The screen shows the basic example:
INT./EXT. LOCATION - TIME

As well as specific examples:
INT. BEACH HOUSE - DAY
EXT. NIGHT CLUB - NIGHT
INT. HENRY'S PLAYHOUSE - 2 P.M.
EXT. DIANE'S LIVING ROOM - 3 A.M.

The Screenwriter chuckles to themselves. Sounds like -

Gargling rocks. If rocks could laugh.

THE SCREENWRITER (CONT')
Headers seem useless. But whenever you decide to film at a location, you need one. They should go before anything else you write in a scene. For example -

Something SCREECHES in another room. The Screenwriter looses their train of thought.

THE SCREENWRITER (CONT')
Shut up! Sorry. My pet... he's... angry I'm hogging the bathroom. More on him later. Back to an example. If I'm in the bathroom, that is considered the interior or INT. of a location. If I'm outside, that's the exterior or EXT. of a location. So since I'm in the interior of my own bathroom and it's currently...

They check their wrist watch.

THE SCREENWRITER (CONT')
Night time, that means my scene header would look be: INT. SCREENWRITER'S BATHROOM - NIGHT Cool huh? Notice how the format works too. There's always a single dash after the location and the time of day. Now, say I got up from the bathroom and checked on my pet in another room? Then what happens? Well, a new location is always a new scene. So it would be time for a new header!

The Screenwriter gathers up their nest of -

Laptops and books. They EXIT.

CUT TO:

INT. SCREENWRITER'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Decadent, spacious loft space. The high rise of sea level living.

THE SCREENWRITER
Ta-da! Did you get that? I moved to my living room! Now I'm in a new place, and my header lets anyone reading my script know that I'm no longer taking a sh- I mean, no longer going to the bathroom. Now it's your turn! Comment on this line, and give me a header or two! And not in the dirty way, you scoundrels... Next time, I'll cover how to describe a scene. Bye now!