# Omitted scene > OMITTED marks a scene removed from a locked shooting script. Its number stays in place so later scenes keep the numbers used by schedules and sides. Also known as OMITTED **On the page** ``` 16 OMITTED 17 INT. GARAGE - NIGHT ``` ## In practice Once a script is locked, deleting a scene silently and renumbering everything after it breaks call sheets, lined scripts, and sides that already cite "scene 42." Marking the number OMITTED retires the content while preserving the map. The hole is intentional paperwork so the crew's references stay stable overnight. OMITTED is a production lock tool, not a creative flex for early drafts. In development, cut scenes and renumber freely while the story is still moving. Inventing OMITTED rows in a sales spec to look "official" usually confuses readers who only wanted a clean continuous story without fake prep apparatus. A-scenes and omitted scenes solve opposite insert/delete problems on a locked book: lettered numbers insert; OMITTED holds a retired slot. Writers should take omission instructions from the production numbering owner. If a cut returns later, production may restore content under a new lettered number rather than silently recycling the old slot. ## See it formatted - [How to number screenplay scenes for production](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/scene-numbers-production-drafts): When to add scene numbers, how locked pages and A/B scenes work, and why spec scripts usually omit them. Includes screenplay examples and revision guidance. ## Try it in a free tool - [Free Final Draft FDX inspector](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fdx-inspector): Open an FDX file privately in your browser to inventory revision sets, locked pages, scene numbers, and portability risks before you import or convert. ## Common questions ### What does OMITTED mean in a script? The scene has been cut, but its production number is reserved. For example, 16 OMITTED followed by Scene 17 shows the cut without changing Scene 17's number. It keeps the crew's existing references usable. ### Why not just renumber after cutting a locked scene? Because schedules, sides, and lined scripts already point at the old numbers. OMITTED preserves those references while retiring the content. ### Does OMITTED mean the scene never existed creatively? No. It means the scene is out of the shooting continuum. The number stays as a placeholder so the locked map does not collapse. ### Should spec scripts use OMITTED? Generally no. Specs should read as a clean continuous draft. OMITTED belongs to locked production numbering, not early sales formatting. ### How does OMITTED relate to A-pages? OMITTED retires a scene number; A-pages insert pagination between locked page numbers. Both protect references instead of renumbering the whole book. ## Related terms - [Locked script](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/locked-script): A shooting draft whose page and scene numbers are frozen so every department shares one numbering scheme. After lock, changes become marked revisions instead of silently reshuffling the whole script. - [Scene number](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/scene-number): A scene number identifies a scene in a shooting script. Once numbers are locked, Scene 42 keeps its number so schedules, sides, and crew notes agree. - [A-pages](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/a-pages): Inserted pages on a locked script that avoid renumbering everything after them — material between 27 and 28 becomes 27A, 27B, and so on. - [Shooting script](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/shooting-script): The production draft: scene numbers, locks, and revision marks — the document departments schedule and shoot from, not the clean selling draft. --- Canonical page: