"beat"

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LittleRed
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"beat"

Post by LittleRed »

It may soumd abit dumb.. But what does "beat" mean when i see it in a script?
francescasmum
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Re: "beat"

Post by francescasmum »

Basically, it means that is you do not say the next line immediately, leaving time for a reaction (enough time for a heart beat/ intake of breath / shocked expression etc), sometimes they do this by changing camera angle to focus on one person for their reaction and other times, you leave a second or two before delivering the next line.
I have known script writers use 'Beat' to flick back and forth between two different scenes that are supposed to be going on simulataneously.
begolina
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Re: "beat"

Post by begolina »

Thanks for the question and thanks for the answer. I read a script with few "beat" in it and I didn't even consider it :oops:
LittleRed
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Re: "beat"

Post by LittleRed »

francescasmum wrote:Basically, it means that is you do not say the next line immediately, leaving time for a reaction (enough time for a heart beat/ intake of breath / shocked expression etc), sometimes they do this by changing camera angle to focus on one person for their reaction and other times, you leave a second or two before delivering the next line.
I have known script writers use 'Beat' to flick back and forth between two different scenes that are supposed to be going on simulataneously.
thanks:D
Dell71
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Re: "beat"

Post by Dell71 »

certainly not a dumb question, I didn't know that either :)
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