Hi, I have a scene where two characters are together in an office talking to another character via a skype-type chat (though it's just his headshot). I'm staying with the two characters as they talk to him but I don't know the best way to format his side of the conversation. So far I have: They huddle in front of his computer monitor. ON SCREEN: DES’S SMILING HEADSHOT. Then I have the conversation, with Des's lines as (V.O.) - but that doesn't seem quite right. Advice I've read on phone chats says if one party is seen and the other heard, use (V.O.). Thoughts? Thanks!
Screenwriting : Format question: skype chat by Dawn Johnston
Format question: skype chat
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Hi Dawn, I think V.O. is appropriate when someone is not in the room and you're not using an Intercut to show the other character in his/her own setting. But I don't think you need 'headshot', maybe just Des smiling.
OK, thanks Diane. Seemed weird to use it. But it actually is a headshot - they're talking to a picture of him, not video.
Sorry, I misread. Thought the Skpe-chat meant that it was just his face on the screen.
Actually, "V.O." would not be right for this kind of conversation. "V.O." should only be used when it is a person "narrating" or "speaking over images that he is describing, thinking about, etc." An example would be the V.O in "Blade Runner." Diane, the abreviation you want to use would be "O.S." meaning the audio is coming "Off Screen" but is part of what the main characters can hear.
I thought you used O.S. when a character was on scene but off-screen? I've always used V.O. for a character who was not on scene, e.g., on the other end of a phone -- or for an unseen narrator.
Diane, the key to O.S. is that they may or may not be in the scene, in the physical sence, but the sound that you are drawing attention to is to be recorded approbriately. So, for instance, if you had "Charlie" speaking on a speaker phone in "Charlie's angels" the (O.S.) would be used because it's meant to signify, not only is the character's presence in the scene (through a speaker box), so is their voice. But Charlie is not there, speaking from his own body, which is the line in the sand rule when you need to use O.S. But O.S is different from V.O. -- V.O. has a different rule set altogether and it is very specific. For instance, in a V.O., if we were to use "Charlie" from "Charlie's angels" as an example, and he was speaking, and it was a "V.O.," the words would be different because he would be thinking about his work with the Angels, a reflection, narration that sums or prepares the audience for what is going to happen or has happened. And there is a production reason for the different uses. For instance in a "O.S. " designation, the audio supervisor knows that something will have to be adjusted for the final recording for the film -- a phone filter to change the voice of the person, or an off screen yell of help... where as with V.O. the audio supervisor knows that is a straight recording of a person reading in a mike narrating the beginning of a story, or throughout the story, what you would hear in an episode of Dexter, as the character Dexter chimes in with how he is thinking and planning his next kill, etc.
And now I've had time to do a bit more digging and the results are conflicting. The nichol sample script (http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/scriptsample.pdf) advises using (O.S.) whereas Trilane (http://www.trilane.com/ref/dlg/dlg2/dlg2.html) which uses Trottier as a reference, advises (V.O.). I feel like neither is quite right though it's probably one of those things where, as long as you're consistent, people will get it and not get too worked up about it. Thanks!
Dawn, the nicholl passage you cite is closer to the way to do it, but because it is meant to serve as a "generic" sample it can mislead people. The second link has it flat out wrong when using VO in the context of the scene connected to the link, but I can see the writer had more of an interest in what is "shown" via what the screenwriter includes in the script. V.O. is usually a narration, but it can also be someone being the voice of a letter written by the person we are now hearing. There are certainly more instances, but the pattern, rule of thumb is -- you know when you hear a V.O. -- a disembodied like voice over the action, recorded later... usually used at the beginning of a movie and throughout a show that is commenting on the action, but none of the characters can usually hear it... usually just the audience. Its a Voice over the Action, not integrated within, like a person calling out in a warehouse, but we don't see yet who it is... which is O.S.
The second link is supposedly based on Trottier's book - which I don't have. But I'd always though of V.O. as the way you've described it - a disembodied voice, narration etc.
I always thought it was self evident.