What do abbreviations in movie scripts stand for? For example, EXT.
, INT.
, (O.S.)
, (V.O.)
, ...
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3Unless you specify which abbreviations you're looking for, I'm not sure this'll be a straightforward question. since there could be movie specific, writer specific, era specific etc...– VishwaCommented Jun 5, 2019 at 3:10
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4@Vishwa, I don't think your comment is relevant here. Since there are a number of default standard abbreviations in movie scripting used by all script writers– GreenCommented Jun 5, 2019 at 6:50
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5Relevancy is matter of perspective dude. anyway, if you're looking for default/standard abbreviations, then you should mention it in your question. Even though if there is default standard abbreviations like you say, it'll still be a broad area to cover, isn't it? and how can one consider which are the standards? I don't know if there's any official guidelines , if there's then it'll be usable as a foundation to get what you're looking for– VishwaCommented Jun 5, 2019 at 7:15
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@Vishwa, If a question is a straightforward question or not is a matter of perspective.– GreenCommented Jun 5, 2019 at 7:46
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yes.. by all means if– VishwaCommented Jun 5, 2019 at 10:23
1 Answer
These abbreviations represent the type of scene and the area where it's being filmed.
From this glossary and this page from abbreviations used in movie scripts,
EXT. => Exterior
INT. => Interior
O.S. => Abbreviation for Off Screen, denoting that the speaker is not resident within the scene.
V.O. => Abbreviation for Voice Over, denoting that the speaker is narrating the action onscreen.
You can find more abbreviations on the linked pages.
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Really, the only other common ones I can think of would be FX/SFX (sound effect) and MOS (silent)--oh, and POV (shot from the character's point of view). Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 17:13
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