Question: How to handle P.O.V. shots?
Some advice on Point Of View shots in a screenplay.
Question from E.C. Henry:
What’s your take on how a point of view shot heading SHOULD be formatted in a spec. script?
As per one of my reference books, “… In a POV shot, the camera is looking through the eyes of a character, which allows the audience to see from that character’s point of view. It is almast always part of a larger sequence of at least three shots: 1) the shot that shows the charter looking at something; 2) the POV shot itself which shows what the character is seeing; and 3) a shot which returns to the main action of the scene.”
Thus I was hoping you could provide an example of going from a master scene to a point of view shot, then back scene action again.
The simple answer is don’t use a P.O.V. shot, at least not in a selling script. In a shooting script as the director preps to make the movie, then P.O.V. shots can be called for. But the rule of thumb with a selling script — and I feel pretty confident this is the current thinking — avoid using director’s lingo. Let the director keep PAN OVER, TILT UP, RACK FOCUS, SMASH CUT, ZOOM IN, CLOSE ON, P.O.V. and all the rest. Those are the director’s words. We have our words, a treasure trove of fantastic and colorful verbs, nouns, and adjectives, so we don’t need their lingo.
That said, here is an example of a P.O.V. shot from The Silence of the Lambs:
INT. HOTEL ROOM — DAY
CLARICE’S POV — MOVING — as she first sees, sitting on the edge
of a bed — a FEMALE HOSTAGE. Black, late 20’s, gagged, hands
behind her back. Then, SWIVELLING… she sees a startled MALE
SUSPECT — white, mid-20’s — standing by a window with a rifle
in his hands. He is turning towards her…CLARICE
drops into a combat crouch, gun extended, and shouts.
CLARICE
Freeze! FBI!
In this scene, screenwriter Ted Tally (presumably) chooses to bury the P.O.V.shot within scene description. The way I learned it is to write the P.O.V. as a Secondary Slugline:
INT. HOTEL ROOM — DAY
CLARICE’S P.O.V. — MOVING
As she first sees, sitting on the edge of the bed — a FEMALE HOSTAGE.
But there’s no need to write it with director’s lingo:
INT. HOTEL ROOM — DAY
Clarice moving, spots a FIGURE on the edge of a bed —
A FEMALE HOSTAGE
Black, late 20’s, gagged, hands behind her back.
Then SWIVELING, Clarice spots —
A MALE SUSPECT
By the window, startled, a rifle in his hands —
By using Secondary Slugs / Shots, you are in effect ‘directing’ the camera. And if what you’re hoping to achieve is suggest a moving (hand held) shot, then you’ve already got a word that achieves that function — you know, the word moving? It makes the P.O.V. shot unnecessary.
The only time I would ever think to use a P.O.V. shot is if I absolutely, positively needed to convey the importance of Character A seeing Object or Character B, perhaps suggesting that they alone saw something.
INT. HOTEL ROOM — DAY
Clarice moving, spots a FIGURE on the edge of a bed —
A FEMALE HOSTAGE
Black, late 20’s, gagged, hands behind her back. The hostage peers over Clarice’s shoulder —
FEMALE HOSTAGE’S P.O.V. — THE WINDOW
A FIGURE looms into view, pointing a RIFLE at Clarice —
THE FEMALE HOSTAGE
bites at her gag and SCREAMS —
CLARICE
whirls around and BLASTS the gunman.
But even there, I’m still not convinced you benefit from including P.O.V..
What do the rest of you think? Do you use P.O.V. shots? If so, how do you approach them? And what are the circumstances where you think a P.O.V. shot is necessary?
