The Passage of Time

54 DAYS LATER

Yes indeed, the Wave-inatrix recently read a script in which on the last page, preceding the happy ending, the supertitle 54 DAYS LATER was employed.

The funny thing was, in this instance, it didn’t matter how much later it was, it was just a postscript or tag for the story which had already wound up. The odd number cracked me up; why 54 days later? As opposed to, I dunno, 53 or 57 days later? Why not round it up to an even 60? What the writer’s logic was there I’ll never know but I’ll tell you one thing, it sucked the moment dry of its impact.

The passage of time in scripts is one of the first confusing issues a new writer deals with. How does one indicate that after the scene in which the character got coffee, the character took a shower, got dressed, drove through traffic and arrived at work? Well, very quickly, by observation and practice, we learn the basics of Movie Time. Movies embody a certain magical passing of time to which viewers are accustomed. Writers make conscious decisions whether or not to show a character taking every single step involved in getting out the door in the morning. It’s fine to do if it has dramatic or comedic affect on the story at hand. If the point is that the character lives a highly routinized life – show each step. If the main action is going to happen later, in the office, at the bar – or wherever, then the steps taken to get there are implied. For more experienced writers, this is too rudimentary to discuss much more than this but those just starting out, a great way to understand this concept is to simply pop a few movies into your dvd player and observe.

What if more than a few implied moments or hours pass? What if you are moving forward in the story to two weeks later – or a month later? Well, that’s easy enough. Get your slug line down and then simply write in all caps: TWO WEEKS LATER. Or, as in the case study which prompted this post, SIX WEEKS LATER would be fine.

Let’s pause for this commercial break, sponsored by the supertitle:

Supertitles: words that appear anywhere on the screen, usually on the bottom, which indicate location or time
Subtitles: words that appear on the bottom of the screen which are usually a translation

We can indicate the passage of time in action lines and using a mini-slug:

INT. MOSSY CAVE - DAWN

Adam: What are we going to do today?
Eve: I thought we’d go to the pool.

LATER

Adam stands at the edge of a waterfall with sun block and trunks on. Bright noonday sun shimmers through the leafy fronds that surround him.

We could just as easily have written:

INT. MOSSY CAVE - DAWN

Adam: What are we going to do today?
Eve: I thought we’d go to the pool.

EXT. GLASSY POOL - DAY

Adam stands at the edge of a waterfall with sun block and trunks on. Bright noonday sun shimmers through the leafy fronds that surround him.

In either event he’s at the pool. It’s noon. Done and doner. Say Adam is afraid to jump in the water...

EXT. GLASSY POOL - DAY

Eve: Adam! Are you going to stand there all day?
Adam: No!

EXT. Waterfall – DUSK

Adam shivers slightly then finally peels off his fig leaf trunks.

Or we might do:

EXT. Waterfall – DAY

THREE MONTHS LATER

Autumn leaves drift around a cobwebby Adam. He shivers.

The passage of time can be exploited to achieve many effects.

INT. BOB'S BEDROOM - DAY

Bob stands in his briefs reviewing the contents of his closet.

Bob: Honey, I have nothing to wear today!
Honey: Oh yes you do. Look on the right side of the closet.

INT. WIDGET-TECH - DAY

Bob walks through the lobby door at his office wearing a chicken suit.

So, Bob got dressed but not until he went through everything until the only thing left was last year’s Halloween costume. We don’t need to watch the search for the outfit. It’s boring. Unless it’s not. What if every suit in Bob’s closet was identical blue polyester? Now the moment is worth dwelling on because it’s funny and it tells us something about Bob. Show the audience only that which contains the most entertaining or informational moments.

Generally, simply indicating in the slug line and action lines the difference in daylight, clothes, and positioning of your character is enough. Only tell us that literally TWO WEEKS have passed if it makes logical sense for the story.

Stay relatively basic: TWO WEEKS LATER, ONE WEEK LATER, ONE YEAR LATER, TWO MONTHS LATER, FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER. 54 DAYS LATER leads us to wrack our brains for the significance when there is none. If only a little time passed, just indicate so either in the slugline or in the action lines. Don't all cap a time change unless there is a signficant reason for doing so.

Passage of Time Checklist:
Do I need to show this character making coffee and scratching his belly? Or is the main action in the next scene? Then imply the time change only.

Do I intend for the audience to see the words: TWO WEEKS LATER? Then precede that with SUPERTITLE: TWO WEEKS LATER

Can I indicate the passage of time effectively simply in the action lines?

Is this passage of time making the scene "land" better? Is it funnier this way? Sadder? More interesting? Why is this taking place TWO WEEKS LATER? Is that necessary or can I keep it in the now?

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