User Manual

Understanding Lined Scripts
625
Each vertical line drawn through the scene represents a single take from the moment the director
says “Action” to the moment the director says “Cut.” Each scene might require several camera
angles and positions, with one or more takes, all of which are lined and identified
alphanumerically.
The following table summarizes the lining techniques and numbering system shown in the
example.
33/1
33A/1
33A/2
33B/1
33B/2
33B/3
33C/1
33C/2
Master shot The line labeled 33/1 is the master shot that usually covers all the action in a wide
shot. The first number in the label indicates the scene number as written on the script
(scene 33). The number following the slash indicates that this is the first take captured
on film for the master shot. A second take of the master shot, for example, would be
labeled 33/2.
Additional
setups
The lines for each subsequent camera setup within the scene are labeled with the
scene number (33 in our example) followed by a letter for each setup, followed by a
slash and the number of the take within that setup. These lines can be any length,
depending upon what portion of the script is covered by the particular shot.