The short answer.
To write a phone call where we see both people, give each location its own scene heading, then write INTERCUT and a name for the call. After that, write the dialogue as one continuous exchange, with no scene headings between lines and no extension on either name. If we stay in one place and only hear the other voice, keep the scene and mark the unseen speaker V.O.
On this page
Both people on screen
When the picture goes back and forth between two places, you set up the places once and then let the conversation run. The steps are always the same.
- Give the first location a scene heading and a line of action that gets the call started.
- Give the second location a heading of its own, so the reader knows both places and both people.
- Write the intercut line.
INTERCUT PHONE CALLis common; so areINTERCUT - JUNE AND THEOandINTERCUT WITH:. - Write the dialogue straight through. No scene headings between the lines, and no extension on either name, because both people are on screen.
INT. ROUTE 9 DINER - NIGHT
June lifts the wall phone on the second ring.
EXT. ROUTE 9 - BUS SHELTER - NIGHT
Theo, soaked, holds a pay phone to his ear. His duffel sits at his feet.
INTERCUT PHONE CALL
JUNE
Where are you?
THEO
Bus shelter.
JUNE
You can see the diner from there.
THEO
I know.
Action inside the call
When a line of action belongs to one side, say where it happens at the start of the line: At the diner, June sets down the pot. The reader is tracking two places, and a few words keep them from losing one.
Only one side on screen
If the camera stays with one person and the other is only a voice, there is no intercut. Keep the scene as it is, and mark the voice we cannot see with (V.O.). V.O., O.S. and O.C. covers the difference.
INT. ROUTE 9 DINER - NIGHT
June holds the wall phone to her ear. Theo's voice is thin and far away.
THEO (V.O.)
I'm just saying I could still make it.
JUNE
Make what?
Ending the intercut
Write END INTERCUT on its own line, or start the next scene with a scene heading. Either tells the reader the picture has stopped alternating. If the call ends with one of them hanging up, say so in the action.
Texts and screens
There is no single rule for a text message. Writers quote it in an action line, set it under a short INSERT - PHONE SCREEN: line, or use a SUPER:. Pick one and stay with it, so the reader learns what a message looks like on your page.
In First Page
On the Mac, type an opening bracket after a character’s name and Script Assist suggests (V.O.), (O.S.) and (O.C.). Press Tab to accept one.
Questions
- How do you write a phone conversation in a screenplay?
- If we see both people, set up each location with a scene heading, write INTERCUT PHONE CALL, and write the conversation straight through. If we only see one person, stay in their scene and mark the other speaker (V.O.).
- What does INTERCUT mean in a script?
- It tells the reader that the scene cuts back and forth between two or more locations, with the dialogue running continuously. It saves repeating a scene heading every time the picture changes sides.
- Do you use V.O. or O.S. for the other person on a phone call?
- If both people are on screen in an intercut, neither gets an extension. If we see only one, the unseen voice is usually marked (V.O.), and some writers use (FILTERED) to show it comes through the phone.
- How do you end an INTERCUT?
- Write END INTERCUT, or simply begin the next scene with a scene heading. Either makes it clear that the scene has stopped alternating.
- How do you write a text message in a screenplay?
- Practice varies. Common choices are an action line that quotes the message, a short INSERT - PHONE SCREEN: line followed by the text, or a SUPER: line. Whichever you pick, use it the same way throughout.
