DAYDREAM BELIEVER

QUESTION

If you have a character listening to someone talking, and they drift off into a daydream or fantasy, how do you set it up?

ANSWER

Handle this the way you would a flashback. First create a transitional device to slip us into the daydream. In the CASABLANCA flashback, we move towards the cigarette smoke and DISSOLVE to Paris. But a transition could easily be signaled with a word of dialogue or an action.

Mary listens to the voices behind the door. They fade as she looks away.

MARY'S DAYDREAM

Describe the daydream. Then:

BACK TO SCENE

And continue with the original scene with Mary at the door.

If you have a specific location in mind that you want to emphasize, write it as follows:

INT. AFRICAN JUNGLE - MARY'S DAYDREAM

And then after the sequence ends:

END OF DAYDREAM

INT. HALLWAY

Or wherever the original scene took place.

Keep in mind that a spec script must be visually clear. The reader must be able to easily visualize the action and movement. A spec script must also focus on story. Tell a great story, and you'll be singing all the way to the bank.