# POV > On the page, POV usually marks a shot through a character's eyes (or a device standing in for them). In craft talk, point of view also means whose experience the scene privileges. Also known as: point of view, P.O.V., POV shot **On the page** ``` MAYA'S POV — THROUGH BLINDS ``` ## In practice Format POV is a camera instruction: MAYA'S POV or POV - THROUGH BINOCULARS tells production we are looking as that person or tool. Use it when the subjective frame is the story beat — a reveal only they can see, a lie that collapses when we share their sightline. Casual "from her POV" in action without a true subjective cut is usually just prose habit. Narrative point of view is broader: which character's knowledge, desire, and emotional cost organize the scene. A scene can stay third-person visual while still locking to one person's agenda. When coverage says the draft feels unfocused, check whether scenes keep switching narrative POV without earning the handoff. Specs should not turn every glance into a labeled POV shot. Reserve the notation for moments where sharing the eye line changes information or dread. If you are testing a more subjective sequence, keep the experiment on a draft line or take so the cleaner, less camera-heavy version remains easy to restore. ## See it formatted - [How to format inserts, screens, letters, and written material](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/screenplay-formatting/inserts-screens-and-written-material): Put the exact words the audience must read in action, and use an INSERT only when the change in visual emphasis is itself important. ## Common questions ### Does POV always mean a first-person camera? In slug or shot notation, yes — we see through that vantage. In development talk, point of view can also mean whose stakes and knowledge the scene centers without a literal eye-line shot. ### Should I write POV before every important look? No. Overusing POV turns a spec into a shot list. Write it when the subjective frame itself delivers the beat or hides information the wider frame would spoil. ### How is POV different from an INSERT? An insert isolates a detail; POV assigns the vantage. You can combine them — a character's POV of a phone screen — when both the eye line and the readable detail matter. ### Can TV procedurals live without labeled POV shots? Easily. Most scenes privilege a character through action, dialogue, and what we withhold. Labels are optional tools, not a requirement of professional formatting. ## Related terms - [INSERT](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/insert): A brief cutaway to a detail the audience must read or notice — a letter, phone screen, photograph, or object — usually written as INSERT followed by what we see. - [Action](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/action): The descriptive prose of a screenplay — what the audience sees and hears, written in present tense. Also called description. - [Scene heading (slugline)](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/scene-heading): The line that opens a scene: interior or exterior, location, and time of day — for example, INT. KITCHEN — NIGHT. It orients the reader and anchors production breakdowns. - [Flashback](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/flashback): A scene or sequence set in earlier story time. Scripts mark the shift with FLASHBACK (or similar) and return with BACK TO SCENE or a clear present-day slugline. --- Canonical page: