Another open forum question – from popularculture – Totally PC:
Action in blackness. Say when a character is in a dark room and the lights go out. The audience sees black but there is still action occurring. What would be the best way of handling that?
I’m drawing a total blank on good examples from movies — but I’m sure the readers will chime in with some. In the interim, here are a few thoughts:
* Sometimes a script can open with a black screen. Like this:
OVER BLACK
A distant noise. Louder. Engine throbbing, then –
A CAR
roars past, but not just any car… a ’61 Chevy Corvette.
Or:
OVER BLACK
HUSKY MAN’S VOICE
You put that there, you better mean business.
INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE – DAY
It’s HUSKY MAN on his knees, hands raised. Behind him GRANT, hand wrapped around pistol… pistol jammed against the back of Husky Man’s head –
GRANT
I mean business.
The unmistakable click of a pistol being cocked –
What if something happens in the middle of a scene? The lights go out. You can still describe the action, only you’re describing it as if you — the Narrative Voice — can’t see what’s going on, just like the reader.
INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE – DAY
It’s HUSKY MAN on his knees, hands raised. Behind him GRANT, hand wrapped around pistol… pistol jammed against the back of Husky Man’s head –
GRANT
Oh, I mean business.
The unmistakable click of a pistol being cocked –
Then the lights go out.
Over BLACK –
A scuffle. Fists punch –
HUSKY MAN
Fuck you, you –
BLAM! The pistol’s blast fades to silence. Then –
A body falls with a resounding THUD.
The LIGHTS flicker to life –
While Grant is sprawled dead on the floor, awash in a sea of blood. Husky Man with gun in hand, stares down at Grant’s body –
HUSKY MAN
Nice doing business with you.
Turns. Shuffles away –
So in my humble view, the main things are: (1) You can describe the action, but from a ‘blind’ perspective to mimic what a movie viewer would see. (2) Dialogue does not need to have any character extension added to it.
Again I’m sure a GITS reader will drum up a good example or two, which I’ll be happy to track down, if there’s a script available online, and see how they handled a scene over black.
UPDATE: There you are. GITS readers are awesome. H/T to JD Walters for recommending the beginning of The Bodyguard, reproduced here:
SCREEN IS BLACK
In the darkness we hear dripping water, the echoing
approach of two sets of footsteps. There is the sound of
a sudden, quick scuffle, a heavy fall of bodies.
THREE BOOMING GUNSHOTS. Two from one gun, one from
another. So fast and close, they’re barely distinguishable.
The sound of the SHOTS ECHOES against concrete
walls and dies away. Silence.
SLOW, SLOW, FADE IN:
So there’s screenwriter Larry Kasdan’s handling a scene in blackness.
It's brief but the opening beat of "The Bodyguard" has a scuffle and a shooting take place in total darkness, then when the lights come on we see Frank holding his gun out, keeping his client face to the ground, as the would-be assassin sinks in a pool of his own blood. It's available on Drew's Script-o-Rama.
Thanks, JD. I'll post that in an update.
Though the names escape me, I've seen several movies where the lights go out to give the hero an advantage.
It's used a lot in comedies to give the illusion of something\one disappearing.
I guess it depends on what type of action you want and whether anyone can see.
It may seem obvious but there's not a lot that can happen in the dark.
Aaah, a good example in terms of advantage is Silence of The Lambs when Starling is in the basement when the lights go out, but Bill has night vision.
Also, in 28 Weeks Later there's a tense scene where a person with night vision is leading someone around dead bodies.
Another similar scene is Minority Report when Anderton gets his new eyes.
The key again I believe is what the content and context of the scene is.
So having the characters speak O.S. inside the darkness would not be appropriate?
The room is pitch black.
FRED (O.S.)
Where's the fridge, Al?
CLANG
Al (O.S.)
There.
@The Moviequill: I'd say no (O.S.). I know what you're thinking, but if your OVER BLACK, the reader assumes the speaker is 'off-screen.'
Wow – I was just looking for an opening just like it. Hope it won't be seen as stealing.