A screenplay transition is a short instruction, written in capitals and set against the right margin, that tells the reader how one scene passes into the next — CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:, MATCH CUT TO:, SMASH CUT TO: or FADE OUT. In a modern spec script they are used sparingly, only when the way a scene ends is part of the story.
This guide explains what each common transition means, shows it in an original sample and covers the format rules. For the rest of the page layout, see the screenplay format guide.
How are screenplay transitions formatted?
Transitions are formatted in capitals, aligned to the right edge of the text column, with one blank line above and below, and most end in a colon (CUT TO:). The scene heading of the next scene follows. Two exceptions: FADE IN: opens a script at the left margin, and the closing FADE OUT. ends with a period because nothing follows it.
A transition never starts a new page on its own: if a page break falls there, it stays at the bottom of the scene it ends. It belongs between scenes, not in the middle of one.
What is a match cut?
A match cut is a cut between two shots that share a matching shape, movement, sound or composition, so the eye carries over the join while time or place jumps. A spinning coin becomes a turning planet; a slammed car door becomes a slammed courtroom gavel. The match links two ideas without a word of explanation.
Write MATCH CUT TO: when the match is the point of the moment and a reader might miss it otherwise. Describe both images so the match is clear on the page:
INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT NOOR (20s), exhausted, stirs sugar into a paper cup. The spoon circles, circles. MATCH CUT TO: EXT. FAIRGROUND - DAY (1999) A teacup ride circles, circles. Young NOOR (8) shrieks with laughter.
The best-known match cuts in film history carry whole stretches of time across one cut — a thrown tool becoming a spacecraft is the famous case. A match cut does not need that scale. Even a small one, like the spoon above, tells the audience that two moments are connected in a character's mind.
What is a smash cut?
A smash cut is an abrupt, jarring cut from one scene to a sharply different one, usually at a moment of high tension or for comic contrast. It typically cuts out of noise into silence, calm into chaos or a confident promise into its immediate failure.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT GUS (50s) slams the fridge. GUS I am not going to that wedding. End of discussion. SMASH CUT TO: INT. WEDDING RECEPTION - NIGHT Gus, in a rented tuxedo, doing the chicken dance.
Use SMASH CUT TO: when the speed and violence of the cut is the effect — a scream that stops dead, a punchline. If the cut is ordinary, an ordinary cut will do, and you do not need to write anything at all.
CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO and the other common transitions
- CUT TO: — the plain cut. Every new scene heading already implies one, so CUT TO: on every scene is padding. Writers keep it for a cut they want felt, such as a hard jump in time.
- DISSOLVE TO: — one image fades out as the next fades in. It signals passing time or a soft change of place; use it rarely enough that it still means something.
- FADE IN: — the first words of most screenplays, at the left margin before the first scene heading.
- FADE OUT. — the last transition of the script, set right. FADE TO BLACK. works the same way and can also end a sequence mid-script.
- JUMP CUT TO: — a cut within the same scene that skips forward in time with the camera roughly where it was, so the audience notices the jump.
- INTERCUT — not a transition but an instruction to cut back and forth between two places, usually a phone call. See Two Calls in the Screenplay Museum, and the montage and flashback guide for related formats.
- PRE-LAP — sound or dialogue from the next scene starting before the cut. It is written as a parenthetical or extension on the line that carries over, not as a right-aligned transition.
Fades: opening and closing a script
Fades frame the whole story. FADE IN: sits alone at the left margin above the first scene heading, and FADE OUT. sits at the right margin after the last line of action, often followed by THE END centered below. In between, FADE TO BLACK. can close a sequence that should feel like a full stop — the end of a first act told as a flashback, or a death the film refuses to show.
FADE IN: EXT. ORCHARD - DAWN Frost on the apples. A ladder against a tree, no one on it. ... The ladder, gone. Only the marks in the frost. FADE OUT.
Those two lines bookend the script and tell the reader nothing more than "this is where it starts" and "this is where it ends" — which is exactly their job.
Transitions in a shooting script
Shooting scripts, prepared once a film is in production, sometimes carry more transitions than the spec did, because the director and editor have decided how particular scenes join. A writer drafting a spec should not try to anticipate those choices. Write the scene so its last image and the next scene's first image do the work, and leave the editing room its decisions.
Should a spec script use transitions?
A spec script should use transitions only where they add meaning a reader would otherwise miss. Readers assume a cut between scenes, so CUT TO: everywhere wastes lines and suggests a writer directing the camera. Most produced scripts open with FADE IN:, close with FADE OUT. and use a handful of transitions in between.
A useful test: cover the transition and read the two scenes. If the join still lands, delete it. If something is lost — the match, the shock, the passage of years — keep it. Often a better move is to put the effect in the images themselves. A strong closing image and a contrasting first line of action can do a smash cut's work without the label.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY The bell rings. Thirty chairs scrape at once. EXT. EMPTY PLAYGROUND - NIGHT One swing still moving.
No transition is written there, yet the cut from noise to stillness is impossible to miss.
Common transition mistakes
- Writing CUT TO: before every scene heading.
- Left-aligning transitions, or putting them in the middle of a scene.
- Using MATCH CUT TO: when the two images do not visibly match.
- Using DISSOLVE TO: for every time jump until it stops meaning anything.
- Putting camera directions (ZOOM IN, WHIP PAN) in transition position. They belong, if anywhere, in a shot line.
Write it in Scenaloom
Scenaloom's screenplay editor has a transition element that sets the text in capitals against the right margin. Press Tab on an empty line to cycle to it, or Mod+6 to pick it; Enter after a transition starts a new scene heading. The editor never lets a transition open a page, and the PDF export uses the same layout. Start a script to try it.
Questions
What is a match cut?
A match cut is an edit that joins two shots through a shared shape, motion, sound or composition, so the image seems to continue while the time or place changes. In a screenplay it is written MATCH CUT TO: at the right margin, with both images described clearly enough that the reader sees the match.
What is the difference between a smash cut and a match cut?
A smash cut is defined by contrast and speed — a sudden jump into a very different scene for shock or comedy. A match cut is defined by similarity — a visual or sound link that carries the eye across the cut. One jolts the audience; the other connects two moments.
Do you need to write CUT TO: in a screenplay?
No. A new scene heading already implies a cut, so writing CUT TO: before every scene adds lines without meaning. Keep it for cuts you want the reader to feel, such as a hard jump in time, and otherwise let scene headings do the work.
Where does FADE IN go in a screenplay?
FADE IN: goes at the very start of the script, at the left margin, before the first scene heading. FADE OUT. goes at the end, set to the right margin, and ends with a period rather than a colon because no scene follows it.
Are transitions left- or right-aligned in a screenplay?
Transitions are right-aligned in standard screenplay format, with a blank line above and below. FADE IN: at the start of a script is the usual exception and sits at the left margin. See the screenplay format guide for every element's position.