Also known as PRE-LAP · PRELAP
Sound from the next scene — a line of dialogue, an effect, or music — that begins before the picture cuts to it, written just above the new scene heading.
A pre-lap pulls the audience forward. The line or sound arrives while we are still looking at the old scene, so the cut feels motivated: an answer lands before the question's scene is over, or a scream from the next location cuts off a quiet moment.
On the page, place it at the end of the outgoing scene, directly above the heading of the scene it belongs to. Dialogue takes (PRE-LAP) as the cue extension, the way V.O. or O.S. would; a sound or music cue can be one action line, such as PRE-LAP: A guitar chord is struck.
The script records intent, not timing — how early the sound starts is decided in the edit, so there is no need to specify seconds. Used sparingly, a pre-lap is one of the cleanest transitions on the page; used on every cut, it stops registering. Its mirror image, sound from the old scene lingering over the new picture, is usually written as action in the new scene.
To pull the audience into the next scene. The line or sound arrives while we still see the old one, so the cut feels motivated — an answer lands before the question's scene is over.
The editor. The script records that the sound starts early; how early is set in the cut, so the page gives no timing in seconds or frames.
Any sound that carries across a cut. A pre-lap is the kind that starts early: the next scene's sound arriving before its picture.
