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Flashback / dream / montage / intercut

Last updated May 22, 2026 · 4 min read

Scripts often need flashback / dream / montage / intercut scenes. Script format has dedicated markers so readers grasp the type at a glance.

Slima Script Studio Write editor: scene headings support marking flashbacks / special scenes; the scene header is expandable for settings

Four common special scene types

1. Flashback

A scene set in the past (childhood, war memory).

Notation: add FLASHBACK to the scene heading:

SCENE 12 / INT. LIGHTHOUSE COTTAGE / DAY - 1995 (FLASHBACK)

Or Hollywood:

INT. LIGHTHOUSE COTTAGE - DAY - 1995 (FLASHBACK)

When exiting flashback, end with END FLASHBACK.

In Slima's mock setting, The Last Night Train's C-story is J. Doe's childhood flashback.

2. Dream sequence

Not actually happening; in a character's head.

Notation:

SCENE 8 / INT. LIGHTHOUSE COTTAGE / NIGHT (DREAM)

Or:

DREAM SEQUENCE:
SCENE 8 / INT. LIGHTHOUSE COTTAGE / NIGHT
...
END DREAM

3. Montage

A series of short shots representing time passing or emotional accumulation.

Notation:

MONTAGE:
- J. Doe climbs the lighthouse at dawn each day
- The lighthouse beam cuts through a storm-wracked sea
- J. Doe ages, but his motions don't change

END MONTAGE

Montages have no full dialogue — just short description lines.

4. Intercut / Bridge

Two scenes crosscut (e.g. both ends of a phone call, parallel chases).

Notation:

SCENE 15 / INT. POLICE STATION / NIGHT - INTERCUT WITH SCENE 16

Officer J. Doe picks up the phone.

  J. DOE
    This is Officer Doe.

INTERCUT:
SCENE 16 / EXT. LIGHTHOUSE / NIGHT

A. Smith stands atop the lighthouse, in the fog, phone to her ear.

  A. SMITH
    You can't tell him...

INTERCUT indicates the shot crosscuts between two locations.

How Slima handles special scenes

Flashback is a first-class structured field: open the Scene Detail Panel and toggle Flashback scene to mark the scene. Dream / montage / intercut have no structured field — you mark (DREAM) etc. in the scene heading text yourself.

The heading text you type carries through to:

  • List mode's scene rows
  • Exported formats (industry-standard layout)

Storyline integration

Special scenes often belong to specific storylines (e.g. a dedicated flashback C-story). Linking via Scene Detail Panel makes the board display them with the storyline's colour.

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