Screenplay Formatting

What Is a Scene Heading? Format, Rules & Examples

A scene heading — also called a slugline — is the single line of ALL CAPS text that opens every scene in a screenplay. It tells the reader three things and nothing else: whether we are inside or outside, where we are, and when.

Updated 2026-09-18 · About 6 sections · 4 answered questions

The three parts of a scene heading

Every standard scene heading is built from the same three pieces, in the same order, separated by spaces and a hyphen:

INT. LOCATION - TIME OF DAY
  • INT. or EXT. — interior or exterior. This is the only part that is always required and always abbreviated.
  • Location — where the scene happens, in ALL CAPS. Name the specific place, not a category: MARA'S APARTMENT, not APARTMENT.
  • Time of day — DAY, NIGHT, CONTINUOUS, LATER, MOMENTS LATER, DAWN, DUSK.

A real slugline, in the correct layout:

INT. NORTH POINT LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT

The period after INT is conventional in the United States and is part of the standard. It is not a sentence-ending period — INT. and EXT. are written capitalized with the period attached.

INT. vs EXT. (and the combinations that trip people up)

INT. means the scene takes place inside an enclosure — a room, a car, a cave, a ship's hold. EXT. means it takes place outside — a street, a field, a rooftop.

Two-hyphen headings exist for scenes that genuinely move between the two:

INT./EXT. CAR - NIGHT
INT./EXT. CAR - CONTINUOUS
EXT./INT. SWIMMING POOL - DAY

Use them sparingly. A scene that starts on a porch and steps inside is usually two scenes, or one scene whose second location is established by a new slugline. Production managers care about this distinction because it decides whether a set needs to be built or a permit obtained, so it is not decoration.

Do not invent INT. FOREST. A forest is exterior. If a character is inside a structure that happens to be in a forest, name the structure.

Time of day: what is actually allowed

Time of day answers a scheduling question, not a poetic one. Keep it to terms a first assistant director can shoot:

HeadingMeans
DAYBroad daylight.
NIGHTFull dark.
MORNING / AFTERNOONPermitted, but DAY is more common.
DAWN / DUSKMagic hour. Expensive to shoot, so use with intent.
CONTINUOUSThis scene follows the previous one with no time passing.
LATER / MOMENTS LATERSame location, time has passed.
SAME TIMEParallel to the previous scene.

CONTINUOUS is the one writers under-use. If a character walks from a hallway into a kitchen without a cut, that is a new location but not a new moment, and CONTINUOUS says so exactly.

Adding a scene number, and when not to

Scene numbers belong to a shooting script, not a spec script. In a numbered draft they sit in the margin on both sides of the page and move with the scene when pages are revised:

INT. NORTH POINT LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT   (7)

If you are writing on spec to send to a manager or a contest, leave them out. Numbered scenes signal a production draft, and a reader will notice the mismatch before they notice your first page.

Common scene heading mistakes

  1. Camera directions in the slugline. ANGLE ON, CLOSE UP, and POV are shooting-script language. Write the shot as an action line if it is truly essential, or better, let it go.
  2. Vague locations. INT. SOMEWHERE - NIGHT gives the reader nothing and gives production a problem. Be specific.
  3. Missing time of day. A heading with no time of day forces the reader to re-read the scene to work out whether it is day or night.
  4. Lower case. Sluglines are set in ALL CAPS. Mixed case marks you as new.
  5. Novelistic description. EXT. BEACH - A PERFECT SUMMER EVENING THAT SMELLS OF SALT is not a slugline, it is a mood. Move it into the action line.
  6. Repeating the location verbatim when it has changed. If you return to the same room in a different light or state, say so: INT. KITCHEN - LATER, or name the change in action.

How a scene heading looks on the page

In standard US Letter spec formatting, a slugline begins flush at the left action margin (1.5", about 1.2–1.5 inches from the paper edge), is set in uppercase Courier, single-spaced, followed by a blank line before the action. Scene headings are never indented like dialogue and are never centered.

Margins and Courier are not arbitrary: the standard is calibrated so one page of screenplay runs close to one minute of screen time. Change the font and you change the relationship between page count and runtime, which is why readers and producers expect the convention to hold.

Frequently asked questions

Is a scene heading the same as a slugline?

Yes. Slugline is the older industry word for the line that opens a scene; scene heading is the term most commonly used in Final Draft and in screenwriting books. They describe exactly the same element.

Can a scene heading be more than one line?

It can wrap, but keep it short enough that it rarely does. If a heading runs past one line, the location name is usually doing too much work — shorten it or move detail into the action.

Do I need INT. or EXT. on every scene?

Yes, with one exception: a scene that continues inside a vehicle or a structure you have already established may use CONTINUOUS with the same location. Every distinct location still needs its own heading.

Should I use INT. or EXT. for a car scene?

Use INT./EXT. CAR if the scene genuinely moves between the interior and exterior of the vehicle — a character getting in or out. If the camera stays with the passengers, INT. CAR is correct.

Ready to turn this idea into a screenplay?

Zen Writer formats scene headings automatically as you type — press Enter after a slugline and the next element is already positioned.

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Screenplay Formatting

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INT. means the scene plays inside an enclosure and EXT. means it plays outside. The letters are not decoration: they are the first thing a first assistant director …

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A screenplay is set in 12pt Courier, single-spaced, with a 1.5 inch left margin, a 1 inch right margin, and 1 inch top and bottom margins on US …

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Scene Heading Builder

Pick INT/EXT, location, and time of day. Copy a clean slugline every time.

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Scene Heading (Slugline) Validator

Paste messy scene headings. Get INT./EXT. location TIME — cleaned to industry slugline syntax.

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