How to Read a Lined Script

One regularly asked question on EditStock is, "How do I read a lined script?" First you've got know what a lined script is. 

EditStock offers projects like Anesthesia which include a lined script.

A lined script is a document created by the script supervisor during production. The script supervisor sits next to the director on set and acts like the eyes and ears of the editor. 

During production the script supervisor takes detailed notes on what the director says are the best performances and labels them by circling the shot on paper (aka circle takes). The script supervisor also takes notes when the dialog was improvised and therefore different than the script, keeps track of actor physical continuity, and dozens of other details like what wardrobe the actors were wearing. 

The script supervisor keeps track of technical information, too, like what camera roll the camera department is on, what sound roll the sound production is on. The script supervisor is an assistant editor's best friend.

All of this information is fed into the facing and lined pages.

Facing vs Lined Pages

A lined script is made up of two types of pages: lined, and facing. 

The lined pages are probably what you think of when someone refers to a lined script. These pages look like the script except that they have a bunch of straight and squiggly lines drawn through the text.

The lined pages give you an idea of what the coverage (different camera angles) looks like for any given moment of the scene.

The facing pages are the pages that are placed on the left side of the editors binder. The facing pages give you technical understanding of the filmmaking. This location is where camera information and the director's favorite shots are recorded.

How the Editor Gets the Pages

Every day when production wraps, someone from production will bring the days lined script pages over to the post production department. The assistant editors will then put those pages into the editor's lined script binder. It's typical for the assist editor or a post production assistant to photo copy the pages so the assistant editor also has a copy of the lined script.

It's important to note that reality shows and documentaries do not create lined scripts. Only fictional projects that start with a script get a lined script. Most independently produced short films also do not create lined scripts because of the cost hiring a script supervisor. However, lined scripts become more important as the productions you work on get more complicated. Every high end project will have a script supervisor because they have to manage shots that are valuable. Losing one of them, or losing the director's opinion could cost the production a lot in terms of time searching for it or in reshoots if the shot cannot be found. 

Let's dig into a couple pages of a lined script from the film Anesthesia. 

Lined Page

On this lined script page we see straight lines and squiggly lines. The straight line means that the audience CAN see the actor's face in that camera angle. The squiggle means you CANNOT see the actor's face. Let's take a look at shot 3A-3 from Anesthesia. 

Now take a look at what the lined script says about this shot. We can see that Dr. Clayton had the squiggly line and that we didn't see his face speaking his lines in the footage.

We can also tell where a shot starts and stops. If you look at the bottom of Mary's line, "You could say that" you'll see a line indicating that this is where shot 3A ends. However, shots 4B, 4C, and 4D continue on to the next page because they have an arrow pointing down.

Facing Page 

The facing page is like a cheat sheet of what coverage was shot for that scene. For example, shot 3A has three takes. Notice that takes two and three are circled. These "circle takes" are the ones the director likes the most. That doesn't mean the editor doesn't look at take one. She just knows that the director liked takes two and three better. 

The facing page also tells the assistant editor and other post production crew that the RED file for shot 3A is on camera roll A2. As an assistant editor this information saves you tons of time tracking shots down when you need them. 

Be Brave and Go Forth!

Years ago I was working as an assistant editor on my first film. I spotted the word SER in the editor's lined script and wrote myself a note to look it up what SER meant. The next day I was very embarrassed when the editor came in, saw the note, and explained to me that SER means series - the take is a series of shots but without any cuts, and so not technically take two or three. That editor, who I consider a friend to this day, told me that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. My advice to you is the same. Ask questions! Lined scripts have tons of short hand like NG, GT, MOS and the list goes on (that's an article for another day). There is no way to learn without asking. 

View all of our projects in the Edit Shop.