Lined script

In practice

Each vertical line drawn down a page stands for one camera setup: where it starts and stops shows exactly which action and dialogue that setup covers. A wavy stretch of line commonly marks lines a character speaks off camera in that setup.

Facing the lined pages, the script supervisor keeps notes on every setup: take numbers, which takes the director preferred, timings, lens details, and continuity such as which hand held the cup. Together they let an editor find coverage for any line without scrubbing through footage, and let a later pickup shot match what was already filmed.

For writers, the lined script is where the page's journey ends — script lines become shots. Dialogue changed on the day shows up here, which is why script supervisors also log departures from the page. It depends on stable scene and page numbers from the locked script.

A scene before it is lined

On the lined copy, the script supervisor draws a vertical line down this page for each setup: a wide shot covering the whole scene, then a close-up on each actor. The line for June's close-up runs straight through her dialogue and turns wavy through Ray's, which is heard while she is on screen. Each line is labeled with its slate number, and the facing page logs the takes.

How a script is lined

After each setup is shot, the script supervisor draws a vertical line down their copy of the script from the first line the camera covered to the last, and writes the setup's slate number at the top. A wide master shot might run the whole scene; a close-up might cover only one actor's speech. A wavy stretch of the line marks dialogue spoken off camera in that setup.

When a setup runs past the bottom of a page, its line carries on down the next one. By the end of the day, a glance at the lined pages shows which parts of each scene have coverage and which still need it, so the director can see what is missing before the company moves to another location.

The facing pages: notes on every take

Opposite each lined page, the script supervisor keeps a log of every setup on it: the slate, the takes, which takes the director circled, how long each one ran, the lens and a short description of the shot. Notes record what changed on the day, such as a line rewritten, an action done differently or a prop held in the other hand.

These notes travel with the footage to the editor, who uses them to find the best take of any line without watching everything, and to the director and producers, who check them to be sure a scene has the coverage it needs. Together, the lined pages and the notes are the production's record of what was actually filmed.

Why the lined script matters to writers

The lined script is the film as shot, not as written. Dialogue changed on the day, scenes trimmed in coverage and moments added on set all show up there, which makes it the reference when a writer is asked for pickups, reshoots or additional lines recorded after the shoot.

It also explains why scene and page numbers lock. A lined script can only point at the right line if scene 58 and page 41 mean the same thing to everyone, so changes after lock arrive as lettered scenes and colored revision pages instead of a renumbered draft that would leave every note pointing at the wrong place.

Continuity notes beside the lines

Scenes are shot out of order and often over several days, so the script supervisor also records what has to match between setups: which hand held the cup, how far down the drink was, whether a jacket was open and on which word an actor stood up. Those notes sit beside the lines they belong to, where anyone checking a later setup can find them.

When a scene is picked up weeks later, the lined pages and continuity notes are what the crew works from to make the new shots cut with the old ones. That is also why script supervisors read the shooting script closely before the first day: a written detail, such as a ticket torn in half, is a continuity point from the moment it is filmed.