How do I indicate that I want a particular FADE TO BLACK to go from the exterior of the screen to the center, as though the camera is experiencing a brown-out?

This transition happens about four or five times and I don't know how to explain it.

Thanks.

FADE OUT...which is followed by FADE IN when the new scene starts.

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Utah ML

Have you seen this technique in a movie or TV show? maybe there is a script on-line where you can check how they did it.

The "brown-out" from exterior to interior sounds like more than a simple FADE OUT -- I think it's a kind of a "iris wipe"
(see egs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_wipe)

As you know, transitional edits like this call attention to the filmmaker and may distract from the story by distancing the viewer:

"It is often acknowledged that using a wipe, rather than a simple cut or dissolve is a stylistic choice that inherently makes the audience more "aware" of the film as a film, rather than a story. For example, George Lucas is famous for the sweeping use of wipes in his Star Wars films, which help evoke a kinship to old pulp sci-fi novels and serials; he was inspired by a similar use of wipes by Akira Kurosawa"

It's generally a best to use this kind of technique sparingly, if at all.

As a contest reader, I don't see transitions very much anymore. After they've been missing for a couple years, I now find them distracting. Unless you have a burning reason to use them, I say don't worry about them.

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Essentially, you don't. How to shoot a scene is the director's responsibility, not the writer's.

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Good luck to you all.

My very amateur suggestion is to open a PowerPoint document and look at the names for the slide transitions. There might be one that fades the way you describe.

(If not, I'd describe it the first time it's used, then refer to it by the description, e.g. "Brown-our fade to black.")

That's my two cents from someone who knows diddly squat about screenplays.

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The reason for the fade out in this manner is because the camera's point of view in this particular instance is someone who is browning out and then blacking out. I know that the technique is not used as much anymore, but in this instance it is vital to the story for it to occur this way.

How about listing it as SLOW FADE OUT? You might also be able to get the same effect by putting in a POV shot.

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Thanks, I'll try it.

I will post the bit using the directions later.