INT./EXT. - NIGHT/DAY

INT./EXT. - NIGHT/DAY
Let's look at the scene caption a little more closely. "INT." is a commonly used abbreviation for "Interior." So, "INT. NICK'S BEDROOM" obviously means we're inside Nick's bedroom.
Any ideas what "EXT." means?
That's right. It stands for "Exterior" or outside, as in "EXT. ALLEY."
The use of "NIGHT" in the captions is pretty much self explanatory. It's used to give us an idea what time of day it is. You may also use "MORNING," "EVENING," "DUSK," "DAWN," if it's really important to zero in on the time of day, but the most commonly used captions are simply "NIGHT" and "DAY."
There is, however, something I'd like to make clear. The first scene in Appendix A shows Nick at his bedroom window looking down at the dream girl. There is then a bit of a time cut as we jump to "EXT. STREET - NIGHT" to show Nick emerging from his apartment building. We did not bother to follow Nick as he went to his door, got on the elevator, rode downstairs and emerged onto the street. We simply cut to him coming out of the building.
Because of this cut or break in the action, it's necessary to show what time of day it is. As far as the reader knows it could be three days later just before sunset. So to avoid confusion, we put "EXT. STREET - NIGHT" to tell the reader, hey, pal, it's still nighttime here. (Some would put " - MOMENTS LATER" which in this case is perfectly acceptable.)
Later on in the sequence, when Nick gets to "EXT. ALLEY," you'll note that there isn't a time of day indication in the caption. Why is that? Because there's no break in action, no jump in time. Nick goes straight from the street to the alley and we follow him there. Therefore it isn't necessary for us to litter the caption with unnecessary information.
(This would be different, of course, in a production draft. Films are rarely shot in sequence and the technicians need to know what each scene calls for.)
Spacing
Line spacing is somewhat self-explanatory when you look at any of the samples in Appendices A, B or C, but I'll spell it out in plain English:
Always single-space narrative and dialogue. Always double-space after the scene caption and between each character's speech. Never double-space after a dialogue caption.
You'll also note that I triple-spaced between the narrative and the scene caption that follows it. This, too, is common practice, but not always adhered to. Double-spacing here is fine, but triple-spacing gives the page more breathing room. Lots of white space, remember?
To Cap or Not to Cap
There seems to be a lot of confusion over what should and shouldn't be capitalized in a script. Hopefully, this will clear things up:
Characters
The very first time you introduce a CHARACTER into the narrative, capitalize his name. After that, the standard upper/lower case is used. For example, you might start like this:
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
JACK JOHNSON emerges from the shadows of a doorway and lights
a cigarette, the flame illuminating his haggard face.
This is Jack's first appearance in the script, so his name is capitalized. Remember now, that's his first appearance in the script, not in each scene.
Scene and Dialog Captions
As shown in the Appendix A sample, always capitalize scene and dialogue captions.
Sounds
Some screenwriters put every SOUND in caps. I suppose it gives them a bit of a thrill to see their words jump off the page. That way, every CRACK of THUNDER can be heard by the reader.
This might be fine during production when dealing with sound cues, but for the most part, I think capitalizing sound effects is silly and annoying, so I try to avoid it. Nobody will sue you if you do it, but what's the point?
(V.O.) and (O.S.)
In the sample in Appendix A you may have noticed the abbreviation "(V.O.)" in the dialogue captions. This abbreviation stands for "Voice Over" and means that the speech involved does not come directly from the scene but over the top of the soundtrack. This abbreviation is most often used in script utilizing narration.
Another common abbreviation you'll see is "(O.S.)," which means, "Off Stage." Although this may seem to serve the same function as "(V.O.)," it does not. "(O.S.)" is commonly used when someone in the scene is speaking, but isn't on camera at the moment.
For example, you might have a scene showing two people talking as an unseen third calls to them from outside. The unseen caller's dialogue caption would then include the (O.S.) abbreviation, as follows:
LISA (O.S.)
Are you two coming or what?
I personally consider these abbreviations distracting (in fact, I consider all abbreviations distracting, but we'll get into that later), so I employ another commonly used technique:
LISA'S VOICE
Are you two coming or what?
As you can see, I substitute the word "VOICE" for "(O.S.). The same technique may be used for a voice over as well.