# Do you need FADE IN and CUT TO in a screenplay? > Most scene changes need no transition: the next heading is the cut. Write one when the edit tells the story, and treat FADE IN and FADE OUT as a choice. Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26 Article updated: 2026-10-26 ## Direct answer A new scene heading already tells the reader the picture has changed, so most scene changes need no transition at all. Write one when the edit itself carries meaning: SMASH CUT TO: for a jolt, MATCH CUT TO: when two images rhyme, DISSOLVE TO: when time slips away. FADE IN: to open and FADE OUT. to close are optional bookends. Current advice is split on whether a spec should use them, so pick one approach and keep it. ## On the page An opening, one transition that earns its place, then a plain cut ``` FADE IN: INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT Mara presses her ear to the door. Silence. Then, very softly, a monitor flatlines. SMASH CUT TO: EXT. WEDDING RECEPTION - DAY Confetti. A brass band hits its first note. Mara laughs too loudly. INT. RECEPTION TENT - LATER The band packs up. Mara sits alone with a warm glass of champagne. ``` ## Current practice ### The scene heading is the cut _Widely expected_ A new heading already signals a change of place or time, so a transition between ordinary scenes adds nothing. The Academy Nicholl format guide notes that many writers have dropped transitions between scenes for exactly that reason, and Final Draft's advice is to write CUT TO: only for a sudden or abrupt visual change. ## Accepted variations ### Transitions with a job _Common choice_ SMASH CUT TO: sells an abrupt contrast, MATCH CUT TO: joins two images that share a shape or idea, and DISSOLVE TO: lets time or memory blur. Each belongs where the edit is part of the story, and each loses its force as a habit. ### Where a transition sits _Widely expected_ Transitions sit at the right margin in capitals, at the end of the outgoing scene and just above the next heading. FADE IN: is the traditional exception: in the Academy Nicholl sample it stands at the left margin above the first scene. ### FADE IN: and FADE OUT. _Changing practice_ The Academy Nicholl sample opens on FADE IN: and closes on FADE OUT. and THE END, and many produced scripts still do. Final Draft's 2025 and 2026 transition guides call FADE IN: at the top of a spec a novice signal. Both appear in current drafts. ### Dissolves into flashbacks _Changing practice_ A DISSOLVE TO: was once the standard way into a flashback; Final Draft now calls that dated. A scene heading that names the time does the job and keeps the scene list readable. ## Where reasonable writers disagree The live argument is about FADE IN:. Final Draft's 2025 and 2026 transition guides both call it a sign of a novice at the top of a spec, while the Academy Nicholl format guide and a great many produced scripts open with it. Choose one and keep your ending consistent with it. What every guide agrees on is that a CUT TO: after every scene adds nothing the next heading has not already said. ## Mistakes to avoid - Ending every scene with CUT TO: when the next heading already says the picture changed. - Using a transition to show time passing when the next heading can say LATER or name the time. - Calling a hard contrast a MATCH CUT, or a visual rhyme a SMASH CUT, so the reader imagines the wrong edit. - Placing the transition after the new scene heading instead of just above it. - Setting a closing or mid-script transition at the left margin, where it reads as action. FADE IN: at the top is the one transition that traditionally sits there. ## Submission versus production ### Submission or reading draft In a spec, let the headings do the cutting and keep transitions for the few edits a reader must feel. Whether to open on FADE IN: is your call. Either is current, so choose one and close the script to match. ### Production draft Once the script goes into production, a transition is a note for the director and the editor, who decide the actual cut. Keep the ones that carry intent, and leave them in place in revised pages so the edit and the script still agree. ## Working in Plot In Plot, type CUT TO: (or any line in capitals that ends in TO:) and it becomes a Transition, set at the right margin in the editor and in the PDF. Choose Transition from the element menu, or its number shortcut, to turn any line into one, and Plot suggests the rest as you type: FADE OUT., DISSOLVE TO:, SMASH CUT TO:, MATCH CUT TO: and any you have already used in the script. ## Questions writers ask ### What is the difference between a smash cut and a match cut? A smash cut is an abrupt jump for shock or comedy, like silence cut straight into a roaring crowd. A match cut joins two shots that share a shape, a movement or an idea, so the audience feels the connection. One jolts; the other rhymes. ### When is a transition worth writing? When the edit itself tells part of the story: a jolt between two moods, an image that rhymes with the next, time dissolving. If taking the transition out would not change how the reader imagines the cut, the scene heading is enough. ### Where does FADE IN go in a screenplay? At the left margin, above the first scene heading, as the Academy Nicholl sample sets it. Every other transition sits at the right margin. If you leave FADE IN: out, the first scene heading opens the script on its own. ### How do you end a screenplay? Most scripts close with FADE OUT. at the right margin, and many add THE END centered below it, as the Academy Nicholl sample does. FADE TO BLACK. is a common alternative. Choose one close and keep it in step with how the script opens. ## Sources and context - [Final Draft — What are transitions and how to use them](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/what-are-transitions-and-how-to-use-them) - [Final Draft — Transitions: to CUT TO or not to CUT TO](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/transitions-cut-not-cut) - [Academy Nicholl — Screenwriting resources (script formatting guide)](https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/screenwriting-resources) - [The Academy Nicholl format guide, which opens on FADE IN: and closes on FADE OUT.](https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/screenwriting-resources) These sources document current screenplay practice, software guidance, or production workflow. Screenplay style remains flexible, and any delivery brief or submission rule supplied by the recipient takes precedence. --- Canonical page: